despicable
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English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Late Latin dēspicābilis, from Latin dēspicor, a variant of dēspiciō (“I despise”), from de (“down”) + speciō (“I look at, behold”). First attested in the 1550s.[1] Equivalent to despise + -able.
Pronunciation
[edit]- IPA(key): /dɪˈspɪkəbəl/, /ˈdɛspɪkəbəl/
Audio (Southern England): (file) Audio (New Jersey): (file)
Adjective
[edit]despicable (comparative more despicable, superlative most despicable)
- Fit or deserving to be despised; contemptible; mean.
- Synonyms: vile, evil, mean, contemptible
- 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 234:
- The physical penis is consumed by despicable fish, animals of the turgid depths, but the higher phallus, the image of resurrection through the goddess, is fashioned as a sacred icon.
Synonyms
[edit]- See also Thesaurus:despicable
Antonyms
[edit]Translations
[edit]deserving to be despised
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Noun
[edit]despicable (plural despicables)
- A wretched or wicked person.
- 2004, Wayne Campbell Kannaday, Apologetic Discourse and the Scribal Tradition:
- Robbers assemble other robbers for the purpose of robbery; but Christians gather thieves, bandits, and other despicables for the purpose of spiritual transformation.
References
[edit]- ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “despicable”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *speḱ-
- English terms borrowed from Late Latin
- English terms derived from Late Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms suffixed with -able
- English 4-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English terms with quotations
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Emotions