detestation

[dee-te-stey-shuh n]

See more synonyms for detestation on Thesaurus.com

noun

abhorrence; hatred.
a person or thing detested.

Origin of detestation

1375–1425; late Middle English (< Middle French) < Latin dētestātiōn- (stem of dētestātiō), equivalent to dētestāt(us) (past participle of dētestārī to detest; see -ate¹) + -iōn- -ion

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

Related Words for detestation

hatred, abhorrence, revulsion, aversion

Examples from the Web for detestation

Contemporary Examples of detestation

Hostility to the non-urban regions includes a detestation of suburbia.
Time to Bring Back the Truman Democrats
Joel Kotkin
December 21, 2014

Historical Examples of detestation

For once, the music of her voice was lost in a discordant cry of detestation.
Within the Law
Marvin Dana
It is at about this period that my detestation of Calais knows no bounds.
The Uncommercial Traveller
Charles Dickens
Thirdly, that they are never set forth as the objects of ridicule, but detestation.
Joseph Andrews Vol. 1
Henry Fielding
Detestation of the high is the involuntary homage of the low.
A Tale of Two Cities
Charles Dickens
His detestation of the race increased, while yet every nerve was alert to miss no chance.
The Law-Breakers
Ridgwell Cullum

British Dictionary definitions for detestation

detestation

noun

intense hatred; abhorrence
a person or thing that is detested

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 detestation

mid-15c., from French détestation (14c.), from Latin detestationem (nominative detestatio) "execration, detestation," from past participle stem of detestari (see detest).