hate
1 Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
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intense dislike; extreme aversion or hostility.
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the object of extreme aversion or hostility.
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(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
verb phrase
verb
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to dislike (something) intensely; detest
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(intr) to be unwilling (to be or do something)
noun
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intense dislike
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informal a person or thing that is hated (esp in the phrase pet hate )
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(modifier) expressing or arousing feelings of hatred
hate mail
Usage
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.
- 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.
- Used in a sentence: The Grinch was consumed by his hate of Christmas.
- 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.
Related Words
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.
Other Word Forms
- hateable adjective
- hater noun
- self-hate noun
- unhated adjective
- unhating adjective
- unhatingly adverb
Etymology
Origin of hate
First recorded before 900; Middle English hat(i)en, Old English hatian (verb); cognate with Dutch haten, Old Norse hata, Gothic hatan, German hassen
Explanation
Do you dislike getting up early on weekends? How much do you dislike it? So much that you'd stay in bed even if your favorite movie star came by your house to make you your favorite breakfast? In that case, you could say you hate it. Hate is a powerfully strong verb, and it's one you should probably save for those things you really detest, that you have a passionately negative feeling about. An exception is when you use it in a sentence like, "I hate to bother you, but I'd like another cup of coffee." In this case, you're not using the word hate literally, but in more of a polite way; you simply want to emphasize that you're not trying to bother someone while still getting what you want.
Vocabulary lists containing hate
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.
Mr. Magnussen’s performance, indelible and relentless, will define the warped values of a Musky-Zuck era for those inclined to hate it anyway.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026
They love complaining about the characters they hate and swooning over the characters they adore.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026
The government says the amendments will strengthen existing IT rules and curb fake news, hate speech and deepfakes, and has invited public feedback by 14 April.
From BBC • Apr. 9, 2026
Flavio Rolim, head of the police's cyber hate crime unit, told AFP that while not everyone consuming this kind of content turns to violence, there was a "process of radicalization," of men.
From Barron's • Apr. 9, 2026
The boy, Toby was realizing, didn’t hate math.
From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman
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.
