detestable

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de·test·a·ble

(dĭ-tĕs′tə-bəl)

adj.

Inspiring or deserving abhorrence or scorn. See Synonyms at hateful.

de·test′a·bil′i·ty, de·test′a·ble·ness n.

de·test′a·bly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

detestable

(dɪˈtɛstəbəl)

adj

being or deserving to be abhorred or detested; abominable; odious

deˌtestaˈbility, deˈtestableness n

deˈtestably adv

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

de•test•a•ble

(dɪˈtɛs tə bəl)

adj.

deserving to be detested; abominable; hateful.

[1375–1425; late Middle English < Middle French < Latin]

de•test`a•bil′i•ty, de•test′a•ble•ness, n.

de•test′a•bly, adv.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Adj.	1.	detestable - offensive to the mind; "an abhorrent deed"; "the obscene massacre at Wounded Knee"; "morally repugnant customs"; "repulsive behavior"; "the most repulsive character in recent novels" abhorrent, repugnant, repulsive, obscene offensive - unpleasant or disgusting especially to the senses; "offensive odors"
	2.	detestable - unequivocally detestable; "abominable treatment of prisoners"; "detestable vices"; "execrable crimes"; "consequences odious to those you govern"- Edmund Burke abominable, odious, execrable hateful - evoking or deserving hatred; "no vice is universally as hateful as ingratitude"- Joseph Priestly

detestable

adjective hateful, shocking, offensive, disgusting, revolting, obscene, vile, obnoxious, despicable, repulsive, abhorred, heinous, odious, repugnant, loathsome, abominable, accursed, execrable, yucky or yukky (slang) I find their racist attitude detestable.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

detestable

adjective

So objectionable as to elicit despisal or deserve condemnation:

abhorrent, abominable, antipathetic, contemptible, despicable, despisable, disgusting, filthy, foul, infamous, loathsome, lousy, low, mean, nasty, nefarious, obnoxious, odious, repugnant, rotten, shabby, vile, wretched.

Translations

مَكْروه جِدّاً، مَمْقوت

odpornýohavný

modbydelig

abscheulich

abominable

détestable hideux odieux repoussant répugnant

fyrirlitlegur

abominabile detestabile odioso

iğrenç

可恶的

detestable

[dɪˈtestəbl] ADJ → detestable, aborrecible

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

detestable

[dɪˈtɛstəb^əl] adj (= loathsome) → détestable, odieux/euse

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

detestable

adj → widerwärtig, abscheulich; character also → verabscheuungswürdig

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

detestable

[dɪˈtɛstəbl] adj → detestabile

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

detest

(diˈtest) verb

to hate intensely. I detest cruelty.

deˈtestable adjective

extremely hateful.

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

When the young Prince saw this, his grief at being thus confined burst out afresh, and, standing near the lion, he said: "O you most detestable of animals!

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"You are a detestable hypocrite and an idiot!" shouted the Party Manager.

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And indeed I now apprehended that I must absolutely starve, if I did not get to some of my own species; for as to those filthy YAHOOS, although there were few greater lovers of mankind at that time than myself, yet I confess I never saw any sensitive being so detestable on all accounts; and the more I came near them the more hateful they grew, while I stayed in that country.

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Instead of letting her take herself off to some other house, as she offered to do when I married, I was fool enough to ask her to live here still, and direct the affairs of the house for me; because, in the first place, I hoped we should spend the greater part of the year, in town, and in the second place, being so young and inexperienced, I was frightened at the idea of having a houseful of servants to manage, and dinners to order, and parties to entertain, and all the rest of it, and I thought she might assist me with her experience; never dreaming she would prove a usurper, a tyrant, an incubus, a spy, and everything else that's detestable. I wish she was dead!'

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"It's detestable--quite detestable!" she repeated, but in tones of no great assurance; and then her face lit up with a smile which, tentative at first, soon became almost assured.

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Men may seem detestable as joint stock-companies and nations; knaves, fools, and murderers there may be; men may have mean and meagre faces; but man, in the ideal, is so noble and so sparkling, such a grand and glowing creature, that over any ignominious blemish in him all his fellows should run to throw their costliest robes.

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And thus when I reflect on this, I am almost tempted to say that in my heart I repent of having adopted this profession of knight-errant in so detestable an age as we live in now; for though no peril can make me fear, still it gives me some uneasiness to think that powder and lead may rob me of the opportunity of making myself famous and renowned throughout the known earth by the might of my arm and the edge of my sword.

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Petersburg were detestable; and that he would be glad to know if I was in want of anything.

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I found him detestable, and as soon as he was out of danger I had no hesitation in telling him so.

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Several times she made little darts, as if at last resolved to escape from that detestable street, and faltered and returned like a bird to the weasel.

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This is, however, a kind of horse-medicine, which requires a very robust constitution to digest, and is therefore proper only for the vulgar, unless in one single instance, viz., where superiority of birth breaks out; in which case, we should not think it very improperly applied by any husband whatever, if the application was not in itself so base, that, like certain applications of the physical kind which need not be mentioned, it so much degrades and contaminates the hand employed in it, that no gentleman should endure the thought of anything so low and detestable.

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The gluttony of Swine is put before us, as an example to the young." (I thought this pretty well in him who had been praising up the pork for being so plump and juicy.) "What is detestable in a pig, is more detestable in a boy."