detest

English

Etymology

PIE word
*tréyes

From Middle French detester, from Latin detestari (“to imprecate evil while calling the gods to witness", "denounce", "hate intensely”), from de- + testari (“to testify, bear witness”), from testis (“a witness”); see test, testify.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɪˈtɛst/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛst
• Hyphenation: de‧test

Verb

detest (third-person singular simple present detests, present participle detesting, simple past and past participle detested)

1. (transitive) To dislike (someone or something) intensely; to loathe.

   I detest snakes.

   • 1715–1720, Homer, [Alexander] Pope, transl., “Book IX”, in The Iliad of Homer, volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC:

     Who dares think one thing, and another tell, / My heart detests him as the gates of hell.

   • 1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “The Soldier in White”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 171:

     Nurse Cramer had a cute nose and a radiant, blooming complexion dotted with fetching sprays of adorable freckles that Yossarian detested.

2. (transitive, obsolete) To witness against; to denounce; to condemn.
   • 1655, Thomas Fuller, edited by James Nichols, The Church History of Britain, […], new edition, volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [James Nichols] for Thomas Tegg and Son, […], published 1837, →OCLC:

     The heresy of Nestorius […] was detested in the Eastern churches.

     The spelling has been modernized.

   • 1545, John Bale, The Image of Both Churches:

     God hath detested them with his own mouth.

Usage notes

• This is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing). See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:hate

Related terms

• detestable
• detestation

Translations

to dislike intensely

• Bulgarian: мразя (bg) (mrazja), ненавиждам (bg) (nenaviždam)
• Catalan: detestar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 厭恨／厌恨 (zh) (yànhèn), 恨死 (hènsǐ)

• Czech: ošklivit si, hnusit si
• Dutch: verafschuwen (nl)
• Esperanto: abomeni (eo), malamegi
• Finnish: inhota (fi)
• French: détester (fr), mépriser (fr)
• German: verabscheuen (de)
• Hungarian: gyűlöl (hu)
• Ingrian: inhota
• Irish: an ghráin a bheith agat ar
• Italian: detestare (it)
• Japanese: (as an adjective) 大嫌い (ja) (だいきらい, daikirai), ひどく嫌う (ひどくきらう, hidoku kirau)
• Latin: odi, exsecror, execror, abōminor
• Norwegian: avsky (no)
• Polish: nienawidzić (pl), nie cierpieć
• Portuguese: detestar (pt), odiar (pt)
• Russian: ненави́деть (ru) (nenavídetʹ)
• Scots: laith
• Scottish Gaelic: fuathaich
• Spanish: detestar (es)
• Swedish: avsky (sv)
• Thai: ชิงชัง (th) (ching-chang), รังเกียจ (th) (rang-gìiat)

See also

• abhor
• despise
• disdain
• dislike
• hate
• loathe

Further reading

• “detest”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “detest”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• dettes, setted, tested