detestation
Americannoun
-
intense hatred; abhorrence
-
a person or thing that is detested
Etymology
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 -ate 1) + -iōn- -ion
Explanation
Detestation is a feeling of disgust and loathing, like the detestation everyone in your environmental club feels toward people who litter or waste water. When you truly, fiercely hate something or someone, that's detestation. In other words, you detest that hated thing or person. Members of a pacifist group share a detestation for war, and a criminal mastermind might feel nothing but detestation for the superhero who keeps thwarting her plans. The word comes from the Latin verb detestari, "to curse or express abhorrence for."
Vocabulary lists containing detestation
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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.
Dame Hilary spoke of her own "boiling detestation" for Lady Thatcher, but said she was "a fantastic character" and "the very stuff of drama".
From BBC ● May 8, 2026
In my son’s democratic universe, I had hoped they could transcend detestation.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 19, 2022
Germany has set aside its traditional detestation for debt to unleash emergency spending, while enabling the rest of the European Union to breach limits on deficits.
From New York Times ● Mar. 26, 2020
There would be on all hands the utmost detestation of whomsoever had been guilty of such cruelty.
From Slate ● Jun. 16, 2018
And Briony could not be afraid now of Robbie; better by far to let him become the object of her detestation and disgust.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
