accursed
Americanadjective
-
under or subject to a curse; doomed
-
(prenominal) hateful; detestable; execrable
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of accursed
First recorded before 1000; Middle English acursed, Old English ācursod, past participle of ācursian; see a- 3, curse
Explanation
Use accursed to describe something that's under a curse or spell — or just seems like it is. You might call your car accursed if it keeps mysteriously dying in the middle of the road for no apparent reason. An accursed house might be haunted by a spirit or under an evil spell, or you might describe it as accursed if unexplained things happen in it. You can also use the adjective simply to describe something you're angry about: "This accursed town! I can't wait to move to California!" In the 13th century, the word was acursede, "lying under a curse," from the now-obsolete acursen, "pronounce a curse upon."
Vocabulary lists containing accursed
Romeo and Juliet
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"The Tragedy of Macbeth," Vocabulary from Act 3
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Chapter 20: Renaissance and Reformation
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Accursed A woman faces the consequences of a curse upon her family’s bloodline in this horror drama.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 10, 2021
Catherine Barnett: —"Human Hours"—has four sections that are called "Accursed Questions," and they're, they're talking and asking questions of questions.
From The New Yorker • Aug. 21, 2018
There are glimpses of Mitrokhin’s mindset in the titles he gave the volumes, including “The Accursed Regime” and “The Mousetrap.”
From Time • Jul. 6, 2014
Start reading The Accursed Kings, and the parallels become clear.
From BBC • Apr. 4, 2014
‘Keep your hoards and your secrets hidden in the Accursed Years! Speed only we ask. Let us pass, and then come! I summon you to the Stone of Erech!’
From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
