odium

American  

[oh-dee-uhm] / ˈoʊ di əm /

noun

1. intense hatred or dislike, especially toward a person or thing regarded as contemptible, despicable, or repugnant.

   Synonyms:

   antipathy, abhorrence, detestation

   Antonyms:

   love

2. the reproach, discredit, or opprobrium attaching to something hated or repugnant.

   He had to bear the odium of neglecting his family.

   Synonyms:

   obloquy

3. the state or quality of being hated.

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odium British  

/ ˈəʊdɪəm /

noun

1. the dislike accorded to a hated person or thing

2. hatred; repugnance

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Etymology

Origin of odium

1595–1605; < Latin: hatred, equivalent to od ( isse ) to hate + -ium -ium

Explanation

That shivery feeling of disgust and hatred that you get when you see something senseless and horrible is called odium. Odium made its way into the English language through Latin, and the word’s root od-, meaning “hatred,” might tip you off that this word involves extreme dislike of some sort. Odium is a little more immediate than hate and usually describes a negative response to a specific action rather than a long-held, sustained hatred. Your dislike of broccoli, for example, wouldn’t be described as odium. Instead, think of odium as hate mixed with repulsion and condemnation, what you feel, for example, if you hear a racist speech or a news story about a terrorist act.

Example Sentences

This season will only add to the odium.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 29, 2022

Of those who rely on the metaphysical, their arguments are usually strongly imbued with prejudice, and even odium, and, as such, are beyond the pale of scientific criticism.

From Scientific American • Oct. 5, 2018

Labor reformer Orestes Brownson went further and condemned wages as “a cunning device of the devil” that gave employers “all the advantages of the slave system, without the expense, trouble, and odium of being slave-holders.”

From Textbooks • Jan. 18, 2018

But ministers will take comfort from the fact that few consumers appear, so far, to blame the government for the crisis with meat processors and food manufacturers shouldering the odium.

From The Guardian • Feb. 14, 2013

As a counterbalance, then, we begin with that everfresh and exciting odium: the author’s formal introduction.

From "Franny and Zooey" by J. D. Salinger