Dictionary.com
definitions

abhorrence

[ab-hawr-uhns, -hor-]
See more synonyms for abhorrence on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a feeling of extreme repugnance or aversion; utter loathing; abomination.
  2. something or someone extremely repugnant or loathsome.

Origin of abhorrence

First recorded in 1650–60; abhorr(ent) + -ence
Related formsself-ab·hor·rence, noun

Synonyms for abhorrence

See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.com
1. execration, detestation.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for abhorrence

odium, repugnance, enmity, hate, horror, malice, detestation, hatred, loathing, revulsion

Examples from the Web for abhorrence

Contemporary Examples of abhorrence

  • For all his caustic polemics, Kristol had an abhorrence of finding himself in the minority.

    The Daily Beast logo
    Glenn Beck's Creator

    Lee Siegel

    September 26, 2009

Historical Examples of abhorrence

  • There was accusation, denunciation, abhorrence in the cashier's gaze.

    Thoroughbreds

    W. A. Fraser

  • They formed my character, and filled me with an abhorrence of evil-doers.

    Little Dorrit

    Charles Dickens

  • He took it and cast it back to me in abhorrence and contempt, with all the strength he could muster.

  • And Plato might also have found that the intuition of evil may be consistent with the abhorrence of it.

  • Every ragged Moor in the streets greeted them with exclamations of menace and abhorrence.

    The Scapegoat

    Hall Caine

British Dictionary definitions for abhorrence

abhorrence

noun
  1. a feeling of extreme loathing or aversion
  2. a person or thing that is loathsome
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for abhorrence
n.

1650s; see abhorrent + -ence.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper