anathema

[ uh-nath-uh-muh ]

/ əˈnæθ ə mə /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR anathema ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural a·nath·e·mas.

a person or thing detested or loathed: That subject is anathema to him.

a person or thing accursed or consigned to damnation or destruction.

a formal ecclesiastical curse involving excommunication.

any imprecation of divine punishment.

a curse; execration.

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

anat., anata, anatabine, anatase, anatexis, anathema, anathematic, anathematization, anathematize, anatine, anatman

Origin of anathema

1520–30; < Latin < Greek: a thing accursed, devoted to evil, orig. devoted, equivalent to ana(ti)thé(nai) to set up + -ma noun suffix

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for anathema

After a few experiments I learned that I could skip those movies, and Tyler Perry was anathema in my book.
Prisoners Get Cultural Fix with 8-Tracks and Bootleg Cassettes|Daniel Genis|August 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
American politics with its razzmatazz and movie stars were an anathema.
The Ugly Truth About Ugly Politicians|Tim Teeman|July 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In his opinion, the “path to citizenship” for immigrants, which is anathema to many conservatives, is absolutely essential.
Cardinal O'Malley: Pope Francis Knows Immigrants Are the Future of the Church|Christopher Dickey|June 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The occasional yellow or red was acceptable, but the suggestion of a blue dress was met with distress, and brown was anathema.
Why I Finally Let My Girls Be Girly|Andy Hinds|May 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Government regulations were not anathema to the market but requisite.
Obamacare Is as American as the Founding Fathers|Sally Kohn|April 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Lilies of the valley are lovely in proper surroundings, but on a dinner-table they are anathema.
The Cook's Decameron: A Study in Taste:|Mrs. W. G. Waters
It was anathema, he knew, but he could not refuse to accept it.
Carmen Ariza|Charles Francis Stocking
They listened with the calm of people for whom anathema, reprobation, malediction, and execration were their daily bread.
The Miracle Of The Great St. Nicolas|Anatole France
Believe or die is the anathema which vehement spirits pronounce, and this in the name of Liberty.
The Origins of Contemporary France, Volume 2 (of 6)|Hippolyte A. Taine
Since Cobbett uttered his anathema against the root, it never was in such bad odour.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol. 70, No. 434, December, 1851|Various

British Dictionary definitions for anathema

anathema

/ (əˈnæθəmə) /

noun plural -mas

a detested person or thinghe is anathema to me

a formal ecclesiastical curse of excommunication or a formal denunciation of a doctrine

the person or thing so cursed

a strong curse; imprecation

Word Origin for anathema

C16: via Church Latin from Greek: something accursed, dedicated (to evil), from anatithenai to dedicate, from ana- + tithenai to set

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 anathema

anathema

1520s, "an accursed thing," from Latin anathema "an excommunicated person; the curse of excommunication," from Greek anathema "a thing accursed," originally "a thing devoted," literally "a thing set up (to the gods)," from ana- "up" (see ana-) + tithenai "to place," from PIE root *dhe- "to put, to do" (see factitious).

Originally simply a votive offering, by the time it reached Latin the meaning had progressed through "thing devoted to evil," to "thing accursed or damned." Later applied to persons and the Divine Curse. Meaning "formal act or formula of consigning to damnation" is from 1610s.

Anathema maranatha, taken as an intensified form, is a misreading of the Syriac maran etha "the Lord hath come," which follows anathema in I Cor. xvi:22, but is not connected with it (see Maranatha).