odious
Americanadjective
-
deserving or causing hatred; hateful; detestable.
- Synonyms:
- execrable, despicable, objectionable, abominable
- Antonyms:
- lovable, attractive
-
highly offensive; repugnant; disgusting.
adjective
Synonym Usage
See hateful.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of odious
1350–1400; Middle English from Latin odiōsus, equivalent to od(ium) “hatred,” odium + -ōsus -ous
Explanation
If something is odious, it's hateful. If you become a historian of slavery, you'll learn all the details of that odious trade. Odious is from the Latin noun odium, which means hatred. It is a strong word, so don't call someone odious unless you want to accuse someone of being loathsome or vile. Actions can also be called odious. A typical use is Shakespeare's in Othello: "You told a lie, an odious damned lie." Some synonyms are hateful, contemptible, detestable, and abominable.
Vocabulary lists containing odious
Fahrenheit 451
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"The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant
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"On Women's Right to Vote" by Susan B. Anthony
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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.
"Nicaragua invokes Germany's responsibility in connection to multiple violations of international law, particularly in respect of the odious scourge of genocide and international humanitarian law," ambassador Carlos Jose Arguello Gomez told the court.
From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026
Is there something so odious about a potential reworked design that the only way to hustle it across the finish line is to give it a free pass?
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
In the 20th century, the Oxford classicist Ronald Syme referred to this as “the odious pronoun.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
But the silence has catalyzed non-Swiftie onlookers to gin up something decisively, inarguably odious to place at the singer’s feet.
From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026
The odious reception clerk smiled when he saw me.
From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
