detest

English

Etymology

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 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, The Church-history of Britain; , London: Iohn Williams , →OCLC:

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

   • 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

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