Meanings
present singular third person detests · participle present detesting · participle past detested · past detested
- transitiveTo dislike (someone or something) intensely; to loathe.
I detest snakes.
2 more examples
Who dares think one thing, and another tell, / My heart detests him as the gates of hell.
1715–1720, Homer, “Book IX”, in Alexander Pope, transl., The Iliad of Homer, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […], →OCLCNurse Cramer had a cute nose and a radiant, blooming complexion dotted with fetching sprays of adorable freckles that Yossarian detested.
1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “The Soldier in White”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 171 - obsoletetransitiveTo witness against; to denounce; to condemn.
God hath detested them with his own mouth.
1545, John Bale, The Image of Both Churches1 more example
The heresy of Nestorius […] was detested in the Eastern churches.
1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI)
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latindētestor“to imprecate evil while calling the gods to witness", "denounce", "hate intensely”
- Middle Frenchdetester
- Englishdetest
PIE word *tréyes From Middle French detester (French détester), from Latin dētestor (“to imprecate evil while calling the gods to witness", "denounce", "hate intensely”), from dē- + testor (“to testify, bear witness”), from testis (“a witness”); see test, testify. Doublet of detestate.
More words from Middle French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian мразя, ненавиждам
- мразя (mrazja)to dislike intensely
- ненавиждам (nenaviždam)to dislike intensely
Catalan detestar
- detestarto dislike intensely
Chinese Mandarin 厭恨 /厌恨, 恨死
- 厭恨 /厌恨 (yànhèn)to dislike intensely
- 恨死 (hènsǐ)to dislike intensely
Czech ošklivit si, hnusit si
- ošklivit sito dislike intensely
- hnusit sito dislike intensely
Dutch verafschuwen
- verafschuwento dislike intensely
Esperanto abomeni, malamegi
- abomenito dislike intensely
- malamegito dislike intensely
Finnish inhota
- inhotato dislike intensely
French détester, mépriser
- détesterto dislike intensely
- mépriserto dislike intensely
German verabscheuen
- verabscheuento dislike intensely
Hungarian gyűlöl
- gyűlölto dislike intensely
Irish an ghráin a bheith agat ar
- an ghráin a bheith agat arto dislike intensely
Italian detestare
- detestareto dislike intensely
Japanese 大嫌い, ひどく嫌う
- 大嫌い (daikirai)to dislike intensely
- ひどく嫌う (hidoku kirau)to dislike intensely
Latin odi, exsecror
- odito dislike intensely
- exsecrorto dislike intensely
- execrorto dislike intensely
- abōminorto dislike intensely
Norwegian avsky
- avskyto dislike intensely
Polish nienawidzić, nie cierpieć
- nienawidzićto dislike intensely
- nie cierpiećto dislike intensely
Portuguese detestar, odiar
- detestarto dislike intensely
- odiarto dislike intensely
Russian ненави́деть
- ненави́деть (nenavídetʹ)to dislike intensely
Scottish Gaelic fuathaich
- fuathaichto dislike intensely
Spanish detestar
- detestarto dislike intensely
Swedish avsky
- avskyto dislike intensely
Thai ชิงชัง, รังเกียจ
- ชิงชัง (ching-chang)to dislike intensely
- รังเกียจ (rang-gìiat)to dislike intensely
Turkish tiksinmek
- tiksinmekto dislike intensely
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with detest
Cite this entry
detest. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/detest
“detest.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/detest. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “detest,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/detest.
Source: detest on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.