execrate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to detest utterly; abhor; abominate.
-
to curse; imprecate evil upon; damn; denounce.
He execrated all who opposed him.
verb (used without object)
verb
-
(tr) to loathe; detest; abhor
-
(tr) to profess great abhorrence for; denounce; deplore
-
to curse (a person or thing); damn
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
execratesimple
-
execratessimple
-
have execratedperfect
-
has execratedperfect
-
am execratingprogressive
-
are execratingprogressive
-
is execratingprogressive
-
have been execratingperfect progressive
-
has been execratingperfect progressive
Past
-
execratedsimple
-
had execratedperfect
-
was execratingprogressive
-
were execratingprogressive
-
had been execratingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of execrate
1555–65; < Latin ex ( s ) ecrātus (past participle of ex ( s ) ecrārī to curse), equivalent to ex- ex- 1 + secr- (combining form of sacrāre to consecrate; see sacrament) + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
Just when you thought you knew every word in the book for hate, here's a new one: execrate. The word means to despise or also to curse. Broken down to its Latin root, the word execrate means the opposite of being sacred or devoted to. When you execrate something, you are cursing it instead of making it holy. The word is not used all that often. If you say to someone, "I execrate you!" they might think you're casting an evil spell on them. Which in a way, by cursing them, you are.
Vocabulary lists containing execrate
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
ASVAB Word Knowledge
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Frankenstein
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
The citizen of Oceania is not allowed to know anything of the tenets of the other two philosophies, but he is taught to execrate them as barbarous outrages upon morality and common sense.
From "1984" by George Orwell
Presently the fish, not being properly banked, would have broken the gut and torn themselves from the hook, leaving me in bewilderment and shame, to execrate my ain stupid indecision.
From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland Volume 13 by Various
They were of no more account than the rest of the excited populace that knew Davis but to execrate him.
From The Boys of '61 or, Four Years of Fighting, Personal Observations with the Army and Navy by Coffin, Charles Carleton
Will they not execrate the memory of those ancestors, who, having it in their power to avert evil, have, like their first parents, entailed a curse upon all future generations?
From Dissertation on Slavery With a Proposal for the Gradual Abolition of it, in the State of Virginia by Tucker, St. George
All they can do, then, is to conceal these cruelties from the eyes of the people who already execrate him for his many roughnesses and the undoubted shadow under which he lives.
From Lost Man's Lane A Second Episode in the Life of Amelia Butterworth by Green, Anna Katharine
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.
