Meanings
plural execrations
- countableuncountableAn act or instance of cursing; a curse dictated by violent feelings of hatred; an imprecation; an expression of utter detestation.
[W]hile all mourned and honoured the dead, thou hast lived to merit our hate and execration—lived to unite thyself with the vile tyrant who murdered thy nearest and dearest— […]
1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, chapter XIII, in Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume II, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 2203 more examples
He inveighed againſt the Folly of making oneſelf liable for the Debts of others; vented many bitter Execrations againſt the Brother; and concluded with wiſhing ſomething could be done for the unfortunate Family.
1749, Henry Fielding, chapter VIII, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume V, London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book XIII, page 72When some of those brave and honest though misguided men who had sate in judgment on their King were dragged on hurdles to a death of prolonged torture, their last prayers were interrupted by the hisses and execrations of thousands.
1835 July, [Thomas Babington Macaulay], “Art. I.—History of the Revolution in England in 1688. Comprising a view of the Reign of James the Second, from his Accession, to the Enterprise of the Prince of Orange, by the late Right Honourable Sir James Mackintosh; and completed to the Settlement of the Crown, by the Editor. To which is prefixed, a Notice of the Life, Writings, and Speeches of Sir James Mackintosh. 4to. London: 1834”, in The Edinburgh Review, or Critical Journal, volume LXI, number CXXIV, Edinburgh: Printed by Ballantyne and Company, for Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longman, London; and Adam and Charles Black, Edinburgh, →OCLC, page 294For all to be accomplished, for me to feel less lonely, all that remained to hope was that on the day of my execution there should be a huge crowd of spectators and that they should greet me with howls of execration.
1946 April 11, Albert Camus; Stuart Gilbert, transl., part 2, chapter V, in The Stranger, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A. Knopf, OCLC 343192; reprinted New York, N.Y.: Alfred A. Knopf, June 1967 (12th printing), OCLC 1990040, page 154 - countableuncountableThat which is execrated; a detested thing.
1 more example
For thus ſaith the Lord of hoſts the God of Israel, As mine anger and my furie hath beene powred foorth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ſo ſhall my furie bee powred foorth upon you, when yee shall enter into Egypt: and ye ſhall be an execration, and an aſtoniſhment, and a curſe, and a reproch; and ye ſhall ſee this place no more.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Jeremiah 42:18
Synonyms & antonyms
nounhate coupled with disgust
nounan appeal to some supernatural power to inflict evil on someone or some group
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinexecrātiō
- Englishexecration
From Latin execrātiō.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian проклятие
- проклятие (prokljatie)act or instance of cursing
Catalan execració
- execracióact or instance of cursing
French exécration
- exécrationact or instance of cursing
German Abscheu, Fluch
- Abscheuact or instance of cursing
- Fluchact or instance of cursing
- Verwünschungact or instance of cursing
Latin exsecratio, imprecātiō
- exsecratioact or instance of cursing
- imprecātiōact or instance of cursing
Portuguese execração
- execraçãoact or instance of cursing
Spanish execración
- execraciónact or instance of cursing
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with execration
Anagrams
Cite this entry
execration. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/execration
“execration.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/execration. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “execration,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/execration.
Source: execration on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.