hate
verb (used with object)
to dislike intensely or passionately; feel extreme aversion for or extreme hostility toward; detest.
hate
1 American
[heyt]
/ heɪt /
verb (used with object)
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hates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
hated,
past participle, past
-
hating
present participle
verb (used without object)
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hates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
hated,
past participle, past
-
hating
present participle
noun
-
hate
plural
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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
hate-
2
American
hate
British
/ heɪt /
verb
-
to dislike (something) intensely; detest
-
(intr) to be unwilling (to be or do something)
noun
-
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
hate
Idioms
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.
Synonym Usage
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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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hatesimple
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hatessimple
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have hatedperfect
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has hatedperfect
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am hatingprogressive
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are hatingprogressive
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is hatingprogressive
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have been hatingperfect progressive
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has been hatingperfect progressive
Past
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hatedsimple
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had hatedperfect
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was hatingprogressive
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were hatingprogressive
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had been hatingperfect progressive
Future
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.
See Examples For:
In July, Jews were the targets of 70% of all hate crimes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026
"It's two or three games. It's two or three games too many because I really hate losing, but that doesn't mean the world caves in. In some minds it does, it can't for us."
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
In a 1998 concert review for The New York Times, writer Ann Powers opened with: “Don’t hate Duncan Sheik because he’s beautiful. He is trying very hard to distance himself from that fact.”
From Salon ● Sep. 18, 2026
It would be one thing if Macklemore’s comments in New Jersey truly resembled the hate speech that Kraft accused him of dispensing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
I really hate to do that, but there’s no way around it.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
The county will also use the hotline to track incidents of hate- and bias-motivated crimes that may not necessarily be reported to law enforcement.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 27, 2022
The Stop Hate Hotline would also allow the county to more accurately track incidents of hate- and bias-motivated crimes.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 9, 2022
The number of hate- and bias-related crimes increased 34 percent — from 47 to 63 — from 2016 to 2017, according to data from Maryland State Police.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 9, 2019
"The scariest part is that it's usually the boy next door," says William Johnston, who directs the nation's oldest hate- crimes police unit in Boston.
From Time Magazine Archive
I use that term intentionally, by the way, because Ellroy hates it.
From Salon ● Sep. 18, 2026
Safer just to enjoy Jay Baruchel’s funny and endearing portrait of a reckless risk-taker who hates being called a daredevil as much as he resents Ben Foster’s Evel Knievel attempting to give him some advice.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026
He added he hates to think about what would have happened if the police had not been in the area and got to him quickly.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
He’s getting one without the other—and he hates it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
The guy sitting behind me groans and mutters about how much he hates writing and thought this was history class, but Mr. Griffiths ignores him and keeps speaking.
From "Amina's Song" by Hena Khan
He tried golf, was terrible at it, hated it, and went back to work manufacturing $5 electric toothbrushes because he found it more engaging than the golf course.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 2026
Wagoner hated the idea and eventually sued Parton for breach of contract; she wrote “I Will Always Love You” to try to get the older country star to see where she was coming from.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
“She’s been the most hated figure in a lot of ways at different times in her life and career,” Amor said.
From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2026
“At first I hated her for doing it,” he says, “but I realized she ruined her own life to set us free.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
She hated the needle they always stuck in her arm, to withdraw blood, and all the strangers in white coats moving her legs and giving her orders.
From "Earthquake Terror" by Peg Kehret
Among all the discourse sparked by a “No Influencers” sign in a Nantucket store, one question cuts through: “Does hating influencers mean hating women?”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
“I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I’m like, ‘I never once said that,’” Cunningham said in the article.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
In this age when animus eats discernment like the rich eat caviar, the luxury we really can’t afford is hating the good guys just because it’s easy — even if they’re billionaires.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 14, 2026
Danielle admitted to being "really angry" and hating him at first, feeling that anger gave her some control.
From BBC ● Feb. 26, 2026
I loved the watch until I started hating time.
From "The Honest Truth" by Dan Gemeinhart
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.
