abject
[ ab-jekt, ab-jekt ]
/ ˈæb dʒɛkt, æbˈdʒɛkt /
adjective
utterly hopeless, miserable, humiliating, or wretched: abject poverty.
contemptible; despicable; base-spirited: an abject coward.
shamelessly servile; slavish.
Obsolete. cast aside.
RELATED WORDS
wretched, base, contemptible, degraded, dejected, deplorable, dishonorable, fawning, forlorn, groveling, hangdog, humiliated, low, miserable, outcast, servile, submissive, worthless, pitiable
Nearby words
- abirritative,
- abishag,
- abitibi,
- abitur,
- abiu,
- abjection,
- abjective,
- abjectly,
- abjunction,
- abjuration
Origin of abject
1400–50; late Middle English < Latin abjectus thrown down (past participle of abicere, abjicere), equivalent to ab- ab- + -jec- throw + -tus past participle suffix
SYNONYMS FOR abject
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for abject
abject
/ (ˈæbdʒɛkt) /
adjective
utterly wretched or hopeless
miserable; forlorn; dejected
indicating humiliation; submissivean abject apology
contemptible; despicable; servilean abject liar
Word Origin for abject
C14: (in the sense: rejected, cast out): from Latin abjectus thrown or cast away, from abjicere, from ab- away + jacere to throw
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
abject
early 15c., "cast off, rejected," from Latin abiectus, past participle of abicere "to throw away, cast off; degrade, humble, lower," from ab- "away, off" (see ab-) + iacere "to throw" (past participle iactus; see jet (v.)). Figurative sense of "downcast, brought low" first attested 1510s. Related: Abjectly; abjectness.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper