Adjacent Words

Detest definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DETEST, v.t. [L., to affirm or bear witness. The primary sense of testor is to set, throw or thrust. To detest is to thrust away.] To abhor; to abominate; to hate extremely; as, to detest crimes or meanness.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: dislike intensely; feel antipathy or aversion towards; "I hate Mexican food"; "She detests politicians" [syn: hate, detest] [ant: love]

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb Etymology: Middle French detester or Latin detestari; Middle French detester, from Latin detestari, literally, to curse while calling a deity to witness, from de- + testari to call to witness — more at testament Date: circa 1535 1. to feel intense and often violent antipathy toward ; loathe 2. obsolete curse, denounce Synonyms: see hate • detester noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. hate, loathe. Derivatives: detester n. Etymology: L detestari (as DE-, testari call to witness f. testis witness)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Detest De*test", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Detested; p. pr. & vb. n. Detesting.] [L. detestare, detestatum, and detestari, to curse while calling a deity to witness, to execrate, detest; de + testari to be a witness, testify, testis a witness: cf. F. d['e]tester. See Testify.] 1. To witness against; to denounce; to condemn. [Obs.] The heresy of Nestorius . . . was detested in the Eastern churches. --Fuller. God hath detested them with his own mouth. --Bale. 2. To hate intensely; to abhor; to abominate; to loathe; as, we detest what is contemptible or evil. Who dares think one thing, and another tell, My heart detests him as the gates of hell. --Pope. Syn: To abhor; abominate; execrate. See Hate.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(detests, detesting, detested) If you detest someone or something, you dislike them very much. My mother detested him... Jean detested being photographed. = loathe VERB: V n/-ing, V n/-ing

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. Hate (extremely), abominate, abhor, loathe, execrate, nauseate, shrink from, recoil from.