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
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have detestedperfect
-
has detestedperfect
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am detestingprogressive
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are detestingprogressive
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is detestingprogressive
-
have been detestingperfect progressive
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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
His exile to the archives provided him with the arsenal of ammunition he used against the system he came to detest.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 6, 2026
Carey shares that he used to detest wealthy people, before laughing and noting the irony — his career has made him rich.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 26, 2025
Not only do the Fremen detest colonizers mining their planet for spice and often attack them, the mining operation is also a dangerous activity in and of itself.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 27, 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
Judging from his previous term in office, we can be sure that every one of the people around him knows how he detests being disagreed with.
From BBC ● Feb. 23, 2025
When he pens an exploitative work, like another recent bestseller he detests, he is astonished to get a lucrative publishing deal and a movie offer.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 4, 2024
Beijing detests Lai, whom it believes is a separatist.
From Reuters ● Oct. 23, 2023
“The whale abhors chaos; the squid detests order. Is this ship not the bastard child of both?”
From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman
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
His father, Kenneth, was a conscientious objector who detested social injustice, nuclear weapons and smoking in equal measure.
From BBC ● Jun. 12, 2026
The process has long been detested by physicians and patients.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026
For over 20 years, there has not been a single NHL player I detested more than Corey Perry, especially when he played for that other local team.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 5, 2025
The God of War, son of Zeus and Hera, both of whom, Homer says, detested him.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
There’s messaging about neighbors with different political views co-existing amicably – or, if not that, detesting each other for reasons other than politics.
From Salon ● Feb. 6, 2025
“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
A reader called me out on it, saying that there’s a difference between disagreeing with a position and detesting a person.
From New York Times ● Jun. 17, 2021
I die adoring God, loving my friends, not hating my enemies, and detesting superstition.
From Great Men and Famous Women, Vol. 7 A Series of Pen and Pencil Sketches of the Lives of More Than 200 of the Most Prominent Personages in History by Charles F. (Charles Francis) Horne
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.
