anathema
Americannoun
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anathemas,
plural
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anathemata
plural
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a person or thing detested or loathed.
That subject is anathema to him.
-
a person or thing accursed or consigned to damnation or destruction.
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a formal ecclesiastical curse involving excommunication.
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any imprecation of divine punishment.
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a curse; execration.
noun
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a detested person or thing
he is anathema to me
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a formal ecclesiastical curse of excommunication or a formal denunciation of a doctrine
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the person or thing so cursed
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a strong curse; imprecation
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of anathema
First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin, from Greek: “a thing accursed, devoted to evil,” originally “devoted,” from ana(ti)thé(nai) “to set up” + -ma, noun suffix
Explanation
Something that one absolutely and positively cannot stand is anathema. Garlic is anathema to vampires (ditto for stakes and daylight). So is kryptonite to Superman or a silver bullet to a werewolf. Originally the term anathema comes from the Catholic practice of denouncing a particular individual or idea that was antithetical to the Catholic Church. If done to a person, it excommunicated them, meaning they could no longer partake in the church's sacraments (with presumably pretty poor consequences for the soul.) That's a lot worse than kryptonite.
Vocabulary lists containing anathema
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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.
See Examples For:
Succession actor Jeremy Strong plays Zuckerberg as a "full-on villain", according to a review in the Hollywood Reporter, "stoically arguing that even the slightest gesture of responsibility is anathema where money is concerned".
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
Commercials were anathema to Hastings, but Netflix has now built an ad business.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 6, 2025
“Self-consciousness and judgment—whether from yourself or other people—are anathema to flow, as is any form of distraction,” she writes.
From Salon ● Nov. 18, 2025
A cap is anathema to the players’ union.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2025
This choice was anathema to Sullivan, who abhorred derivative architecture, but during the meeting he made no objection.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
As he pronounced anathemas on you and your kind, the smile peeked out beneath the sneer.
From Slate ● Dec. 16, 2011
The next year, the Patriarch and the Pope officially revoked the mutual anathemas that had been hurled at the start of the schism between East and West in 1054.
From Time Magazine Archive
The American Medical Association, which in the past has pronounced anathemas on anything sounding like medical price control, is also giving support to the Administration's plan.
From Time Magazine Archive
The Welles-Houseman partnership ended badly, with Welles hurling blazing Sterno heaters at Producer Houseman and howling anathemas at him in that voice of Zeus.
From Time Magazine Archive
Adrian II. took advantage from the disgrace of Photius to renew against him the anathemas of Nicholas.
From The Power Of The Popes by Pierre Claude Fran?ois Daunou
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
