detest

/dɪˈtɛst/

/dɪˈtɛst/

Other forms: detested; detests; detesting

If you detest something, you dislike it intensely. The word can apply to things and also to people. You might detest your ex-boyfriend and you might also detest rainy Mondays and broccoli.

Detest comes from the Middle French word détester, meaning "to curse, to call God to witness and abhor." Though the words detest and hate are interchangeable, the word hate is much more common, which has caused it to lose some of its hateful impact. Detest is used more sparingly, reserved for cases where no other word will do, where your feelings of dislike are so powerful that they need just the right word to sum them up.

Definitions of detest

1. verb

   dislike intensely; feel antipathy or aversion towards
   “She detests politicians”

   synonyms: hate

   types:

   abhor, abominate, execrate, loathe

   find repugnant

   contemn, despise, disdain, scorn

   look down on with disdain

   look down on

   regard with contempt

   type of:

   dislike

   have or feel a dislike or distaste for