abhorrent

English

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.

Etymology

From Latin abhorrēns, present active participle of abhorreō (“abhor”).

Adjective

abhorrent (comparative more abhorrent, superlative most abhorrent)

1. Abhorring; detesting; having or showing abhorrence; loathing; hence, strongly opposed to; as, abhorrent thoughts.
   • 1803, Edmund Burke, ^[1]:

     The persons most abhorrent from blood, and treason, and arbitrary confiscation, might remain silent spectators of this civil war between the vices.

   • 1822, Richard Clover, Leonidas^[2]:

     The arts of pleasure in despotic courts I spurn, abhorrent; in a spotless heart I look for pleasure.

2. Contrary or repugnant; discordant; inconsistent; -- followed by to.
   • 1827, Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline And Fall of the Roman Empire^[3]:

     This legal, and, as it should seem, injudicious profanation, so abhorrent to out stricter principles, was received with a very faint murmur, ...

   • 1990, James Hankins, Plato in the Italian Renaissance^[4]:

     In establishing his ideal state he expressed some opinions utterly abhorrent to our customs and ways of living. He believed, for instance, that all wives should be held in common ... with the result that no one could tell his own children from those of a perfect stranger.

3. Detestable
   • 1833, Isaac Taylor, Fanaticism^[5]:

     If Pride, abhorrent as it is, and if Ambition, ...

   • 1936, Paul E. More, On Being Human^[6]:

     That, I protest, is a doctrine psychologically impossible and ethically abhorrent.

Usage notes

• Nouns to which "abhorrent" is often applied: behavior, act, crime, practice, thing.

Related terms

Related terms

abhor abhorred abhorrence abhorrency

abhorrently abhorrer abhorrible abhorring

Translations

detesting; showing abhorrence

Italian: ripugnante (it), disgustoso (it), odioso (it)

contrary or repugnant

Italian: contrario (it), incompatibile (it), contro (it)

detestable

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Bulgarian: отвратителен, гнусен French: répugnant (fr) German: verabscheuungswürdig Ido: abomininda, odiinda Interlingua: abhorrente, repugnante

Norwegian: avskyelig (no), vemmelig (no) Spanish repugnante (es) Vietnamese: ghê tởm, đáng ghét, trái với, mâu thuẫn với, không hợp với, ghét cay ghét đắng

External links

• abhorrent in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• abhorrent in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• abhorrent at OneLook Dictionary Search

Shorthand

• Gregg (Version: Centennial,Series 90,DJS,Simplified,Anniversary): a - b - [dot] o - r - e - nt

(Version: Pre-Anniversary): a - b - [dot] o - r - nt

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French

Verb

abhorrent

1. third-person plural present indicative of abhorrer
2. third-person plural present subjunctive of abhorrer

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Latin

Verb

abhorrent

1. third-person plural present active indicative of abhorreō