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If you abhor something, you dislike it very much, usually because you think it’s immoral.
When you accede to a demand or proposal, you agree to it, especially after first disagreeing with it.
If you acquiesce to something, you allow it to happen by doing what someone wants without putting up a struggle or voicing your own concerns.
Adulation is praise and admiration for someone that includes more than they deserve, usually for the purposes of flattery.
When you advocate a plan or action, you publicly push for implementing it.
If something is anathema to you, such as a cursed object or idea, you very strongly dislike it or even hate it.
An aspersion is an unkind remark or unfair judgment attacking someone’s character or reputation.
If you describe someone as benign, they are kind, gentle, and harmless.
If you besmirch someone, you spoil their good reputation by saying bad things about them, usually things that you know are not true.
Calumny consists of untrue or unfair statements about someone expressly made to hurt their reputation.
Mass carnage is the massacre or slaughter of many people at one time, usually in battle or from an unusually intense natural disaster.
To coddle someone is to offer too much protection from harm or difficult experiences.
To corroborate something that has been said or reported means to give information or evidence that further supports it.
If someone is cosseted, it means that he is given a lot of care and attention to protect him from anything unpleasant.
If someone will countenance something, they will approve, tolerate, or support it.
Decorous appearance or behavior is respectable, polite, and appropriate for a given occasion.
To defile something holy or important is to do something to it or say something about it that is highly offensive to others.
If you denigrate something, you criticize or speak ill of it in a way that shows you think it has little to no value at all.
Depravity is behavior that is immoral, corrupt, or evil.
If you deprecate something, you disapprove of it strongly.
If you say a person’s actions are despicable, you think they are extremely unpleasant or nasty.
If you disparage someone or something, you say unpleasant words that show you have no respect for that person or thing.
An egregious mistake, failure, or problem is an extremely bad and very noticeable one.
An encomium strongly praises someone or something via oral or written communication.
A eulogy is a speech or other piece of writing, often part of a funeral, in which someone or something is highly praised.
When you execrate someone, you curse them to show your intense dislike or hatred of them.
To fawn over someone is to be extremely nice to her in an insincere way because you want her to like you or give you something.
If you describe something as heinous, you mean that is extremely evil, shocking, and bad.
When you pay homage to another person, you show great admiration, respect, or even worship towards them.
Something innocuous is not likely to offend or harm anyone.
When someone is lionized, they are treated as being very important or famous—although they may not deserve to be.
Something loathsome is offensive, disgusting, and brings about intense dislike.
If you malign someone, you say unpleasant things about them to damage their reputation.
A nefarious activity is considered evil and highly dishonest.
If something is noisome, it is extremely unpleasant, especially because it is very dirty or has an awful smell.
If you describe people or things as odious, you think that they are extremely unpleasant.
A panegyric is a speech or article that praises someone or something a lot.
When you are reverent, you show a great deal of respect, admiration, or even awe for someone or something.
If something is reviled, it is intensely hated and criticized.
When you experience revulsion, you feel a great deal of disgust or extreme dislike for something.
A salubrious place or area is pleasant, clean, healthy, and comfortable to live in.
Something salutary also promotes good health.
If you vilify people, you write or say bad things about them in an attempt to make them unpopular.
Verb
abominate
uh-BOM-uh-nayt
Context
As a schoolteacher and school dean, Bruce abominated the unjust actions of bullies. Their cruelty and manipulation of those weaker than themselves were an abomination in a place of learning, where students should feel safe and comfortable. Bruce abominated the way in which the bullies ganged up on selected victims and behaved in extremely mean and abominable ways.
Quiz:Try again!
What does abominate mean?
To despise something that is not acceptable.
To want to change something that is flawed.
To support something because other people support it.
Bomb it! Willie's work was so a"bomb"inable that his boss fired him within a week after being hired.
Examples
Doing abominations is against the law, particularly if the abominations are done while wearing a lobster bib.
— Neil Gaiman
And how immediately one is ready to detest and abominate Bertrand, the pseudo-aesthete and bully who is the spoiled son of the vapid Professor Welch and his hard-boiled wife.
—
The Atlantic
Perhaps at the instigation of Mr. Anselmo, who came to abominate any baroque tendency in metal, he played shorter solos as they became outmoded in the genre.
—
The New York Times
Both the Prince and the people of these Danubian Provinces abominate the Moslem connection, and perhaps it would be as well for Turkey were she rid of them altogether.
—
The New York Times
The idea here is of an unfavorable omen or bad sign about the future; when the omen is away or prophetic sign is from what one wishes, one strongly dislikes what it predicts, thus one abominates it.
Word Theater
The Simpsons Lisa is appalled by this abomination.
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Word Constellation
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Related Words
abhor ·
anathema ·
aspersion ·
besmirch ·
calumny ·
carnage ·
defile ·
denigrate ·
depravity ·
deprecate ·
despicable ·
disparage ·
egregious ·
execrate+ ·
heinous ·
loathsome+ ·
malign ·
nefarious ·
noisome ·
odious ·
revile ·
revulsion+ ·
vilify ·
accede ·
acquiesce ·
adulation ·
advocate ·
benign ·
coddle ·
corroborate ·
cosset ·
countenance ·
decorous ·
encomium ·
eulogy ·
fawn ·
homage+ ·
innocuous ·
lionize ·
panegyric ·
reverent+ ·
salubrious ·
salutary ·
Similar sense
Opposite sense
Word Variants
abomination
n
→
strong dislike or disgust
abominable
adj
→
disgusting
The section lists important variants and alternate definitions of the headword. Knowing variants will often help you both remember and understand the word. Not all variants are listed - only the ones we think that are important for you to know.
