hate

¹

[heyt]

verb (used with object)

hated, hating 

1. to dislike intensely or passionately; feel extreme aversion for or extreme hostility toward; detest.

   to hate the enemy;

   to hate bigotry.

   Synonyms: despise, execrate, loathe
   Antonyms: love

2. to be unwilling; dislike.

   I hate to do it.

verb (used without object)

hated, hating 

1. to feel intense dislike, or extreme aversion or hostility.

noun

1. intense dislike; extreme aversion or hostility.

2. the object of extreme aversion or hostility.

3. (in a video game) the focus or targeting of an enemy on a player character; enmity; aggro: As a tank, pretty much your number-one priority is getting and holding hate.

   The Black Mage got hate, but it’s really his own fault for casting those level-four spells back to back.

   As a tank, pretty much your number-one priority is getting and holding hate.

adjective

1. noting or relating to acts that are motivated by hatred, prejudice, or intolerance.

   a hate crime;

   a hate group;

   hate mail.

verb phrase

1. hate on,  to show hate toward, criticize, or belittle, usually unfairly.

   Don't hate on him just because he wins all the time.

hate-

²

1. a combining form describing something that one does but professes to dislike and that may indicate conflicting love/hate emotions, as in

hate

/ heɪt /

verb

1. to dislike (something) intensely; detest

2. (intr) to be unwilling (to be or do something)

noun

1. intense dislike

2. informal,  a person or thing that is hated (esp in the phrase pet hate )

3. (modifier) expressing or arousing feelings of hatred

   hate mail

Other Word Forms

• hater noun
• self-hate noun
• unhated adjective
• unhating adjective
• unhatingly adverb
• hateable adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of hate¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English hat(i)en, Old English hatian (verb); cognate with Dutch haten, Old Norse hata, Gothic hatan, German hassen

Word History and Origins

Origin of hate¹

Old English hatian; related to Old Norse hata, Old Saxon hatōn, Old High German hazzēn

Idioms and Phrases

• somebody up there loves (hates) me

Synonym Study

Hate, abhor, detest, abominate imply feeling intense dislike or aversion toward something. Hate, the simple and general word, suggests passionate dislike and a feeling of enmity: to hate autocracy. Abhor expresses a deep-rooted horror and a sense of repugnance or complete rejection: to abhor cruelty; Nature abhors a vacuum. Detest implies intense, even vehement, dislike and antipathy, besides a sense of disdain: to detest a combination of ignorance and arrogance. Abominate expresses a strong feeling of disgust and repulsion toward something thought of as unworthy, unlucky, or the like: to abominate treachery.

Example Sentences

If you hate the thought of being alone, it’s not too late to invite a few people over for a casual potluck or after-party.

Read more on Salon

Robert Propst invented the cubicle—but don’t blame him if you hate it.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“Unfortunately, I would have to recommend a huge page of detailed disclosure, and I hate that,” Mantell said.

Read more on MarketWatch

She confesses she "kind of hated" the instrument when she first started, but says she grew to love it.

Read more on BBC

“We have a love/hate relationship with gasoline and petroleum products,” Borenstein said.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• animosity 
• antagonism 
• dislike 
• enmity 
• hatred 
• horror 
• hostility 
• loathing 
• pain 
• rancor 
• resentment 
• revenge 
• venom 

When To Use

What is a basic definition of hate?

Hate is used as a verb to mean to passionately and intensely dislike something or to dislike or be unwilling. As a noun, hate is used to mean an intense loathing. Hate has a few other meanings as a verb, noun, and adjective.If someone hates something, they dislike it so intensely that rage or disgust fills their body when they come into contact with it. A person who hates something is called a hater.

• Real-life examples: Children often hate vegetables. Enemies are people who hate each other. A person who hates dogs never wants to be around them. An environmentalist hates pollution and the destruction of rainforests.



• Used in a sentence: Mark hates Ashley so much that he won’t even be in the same room as her. 

Hate also means to dislike or be unwilling, usually to do something. This sense of hate implies that a person could be unwilling because of sadness, shame, or doubt rather than animosity.

• Real-life examples: Children sometimes hate to do chores so much that their parents yell at them. Still, parents often hate to say goodbye when their children grow up and move away from home.



• Used in a sentence: I hate to say it but I think my mother was right.

Hate is also used as a noun to mean a strong dislike of something. The word hate is the opposite of the word love and is often considered one of the worst things a person can feel.

• Used in a sentence: The Grinch was consumed by his hate of Christmas. 

Hate is used in a similar sense as an adjective to describe something that is related to or motivated by hate, prejudice, or intolerance.

• Real-life examples: The Ku Klux Klan is a hate group, meaning the members hate something specific or a specific group of people, in this case chiefly Black people. Social media websites forbid hate speech. An unpopular celebrity is likely to receive hate mail.



• Used in a sentence: Reading the hate speech about people’s skin color makes me sick.