abject
[ab-jekt, ab-jekt]
- utterly hopeless, miserable, humiliating, or wretched: abject poverty.
- contemptible; despicable; base-spirited: an abject coward.
- shamelessly servile; slavish.
- Obsolete. cast aside.
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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
See more synonyms for abject on Thesaurus.com1. debasing, degrading; miserable. 2. base, mean, low, vile.
Antonyms
exalted.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for abjectly
Contemporary Examples
“All it is public humiliation of these abjectly poor people, as well as criminalization,” Cowan says.
Historical Examples
They stood knee-deep in the clutter and lumber, facing each other abjectly.
The Gentleman From IndianaBooth Tarkington
I never saw a man so abjectly sorry for anything in my life.
The Stark Munro LettersJ. Stark Munro
The man had insulted him grossly, and had apologised as abjectly; that was his view of the incident.
The Wild GeeseStanley John Weyman
She was frightened—hideously, abjectly, miserably frightened.
A Bride of the PlainsBaroness Emmuska Orczy
So they're as abjectly subject to The Master as their slaves are to them.
abject
- utterly wretched or hopeless
- miserable; forlorn; dejected
- indicating humiliation; submissivean abject apology
- contemptible; despicable; servilean abject liar
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Word Origin
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
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Word Origin and History for abjectly
abject
adj.
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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper