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detest definition

de·test (dē test′, di-)

transitive verb

to dislike intensely; hate; abhor

Etymology: Fr détester < L detestari, to curse by calling the gods to witness, execrate, detest < de-, down + testari, to witness < testis, a witness: see testify

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

detest Synonyms

detest

v.

hate, abhor, loathe, despise; see hate 1. See syn. study at hate.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

detest Usage Examples

Object

  • war: It has to be understood that there are communities which naturally detest war but still fear for their lives and safety.

Subject

  • majority: Unfortunately a lot of other people decide to do the same and you end up with an MP who is detested by the majority.

Adjective complement

  • most: What I detest most about them is that they poisoned the good name of modernism for the entire century.

Modifying Another Word

  • utterly: He had turned from such things and utterly detested them.

Used with why or when

  • what: But it arrived at exactly the right moment, especially for those who claimed to detest what they thought it stood for.

Present participle complement

  • have: I had always detested having to stand up and make speeches in public.

Preposition: by

  • majority: Unfortunately a lot of other people decide to do the same and you end up with an MP who is detested by the majority.
detest usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

detest quotes

All men hate the wretched; how, then, must I be hated, who am miserable beyond all living things! Yet you, my creator, detest and spurnme, thycreature, towhomthou art bound by ties only dissoluble by the annihilation of one of us. 782

-Shelley, Mary Godwin

detest quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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"detest." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
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APA Style

detest. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/detest

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