detest
Americanverb (used with object)
-
detests,
present (3rd person singular)
-
detested,
past participle, past
-
detesting
present participle
verb
Synonym Usage
See hate.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
detestsimple
-
detestssimple
-
have detestedperfect
-
has detestedperfect
-
am detestingprogressive
-
are detestingprogressive
-
is detestingprogressive
-
have been detestingperfect progressive
-
has been detestingperfect progressive
Past
-
detestedsimple
-
had detestedperfect
-
was detestingprogressive
-
were detestingprogressive
-
had been detestingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of detest
First recorded in 1525–35; from Middle French detester, from Latin dētestārī “to call down a curse upon, loathe,” equivalent to dē- de- + testārī “to bear witness”; see testate
Explanation
If you detest something, you dislike it intensely. The word can apply to things and also to people. You might detest your ex-boyfriend and you might also detest rainy Mondays and broccoli. Detest comes from the Middle French word détester, meaning "to curse, to call God to witness and abhor." Though the words detest and hate are interchangeable, the word hate is much more common, which has caused it to lose some of its hateful impact. Detest is used more sparingly, reserved for cases where no other word will do, where your feelings of dislike are so powerful that they need just the right word to sum them up.
Vocabulary lists containing detest
Tears of a Tiger
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Stargirl
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List 1
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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:
Not only does the Korean magnate understandably detest that style, she has no love for Lindsay either.
From Salon ● Apr. 23, 2026
Ethnic Persians are about half the population, and even those who detest the theocratic regime don’t want the country to break up or descend into civil war.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 8, 2026
So can a bridge be built between those who detest the love locks, and those who want them to stay in Bakewell?
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2024
“I detest it, the mere idea of it,” Freeman told Variety in a recent interview about “The Gray House,” a historical drama series about the work of Union spies during the Civil War.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2024
“Don’t you ever call your father that. I detest the sound of it as much as its matter.”
From "Go Set a Watchman: A Novel" by Harper Lee
She said she detests the shift toward app and kiosk ordering at locations in her area.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
Reilly said he loves being able to offer affordable food, as he "detests" waste of any kind.
From BBC ● May 27, 2026
Beijing detests Lai, whom it believes is a separatist.
From Reuters ● Oct. 23, 2023
Crawford detests being out of the lineup for any reason.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 21, 2023
“The only person that made any sense in the dream was Professor Tupper. I mean he was the only person that was there that I know really detests me.”
From "Franny and Zooey" by J. D. Salinger
She detested the East Coast avatars of apocalypse, like Nathanael West, who saw only doom and gloom in sunny L.A.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
A boisterous protest greeted fans arriving at SoFi stadium in Los Angeles, with demonstrators waving the pre-revolutionary flag detested by the leaders of the Islamic republic.
From Barron's ● Jun. 16, 2026
Alberto Fujimori was a political outsider who won power in 1990 by sweeping up support among Peru’s poor masses who detested the establishment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
The U.S. could soon have the “universally detested Temu Greyhound of the Skies.”
From Salon ● Apr. 28, 2026
She saw Zeus sitting on Mount Ida watching the Trojans conquer, and she thought how she detested him.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
“I’ve always had this sort of magical-thinking way of detesting my previous books as a way of pushing myself forward,” she told the Washington Square Review in 2015.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 13, 2023
Also detesting the invasion is Maria Yumasheva, the 19-year-old daughter of Russian real estate developer Valentin Yumashev and his wife Tatyana Borisovna.
From Fox News ● Mar. 5, 2022
Fearing the power of the Huguenots and detesting their faith, the Guises created the Catholic League, an armed militia of Catholics that included armed monks, townsfolk, and soldiers.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2020
If you already detest Dr. Phil, they will shore up your conviction that he is indeed worth detesting.
From New York Times ● Sep. 6, 2017
Summersby looked from one to another, detesting them; against his will, against sanity and decency that fought for recognition, he detested them.
From The Enormous Room by Horace Leonard Gold
Definitions 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.
