abominable
/əˈbɑm.ə.nə.bl̩/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.85 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
5
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Worthy of, or causing, abhorrence, as a thing of evil omen; odious in the utmost degree; very hateful; detestable; loathsome; execrable.
adj
Example Sentences
- "abominable crime"
- "utterly abominable"
- "He committed an abominable act of cruelty."
- "But the feareful, and vnbeleeuing, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and ſorcerers, and idolaters, and all lyars, ſhall haue their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimſtone: which is the ſecond death."
- "The parish stank of idolatry, abominable rites were practiced in secret, and in all the bounds there was no one had a more evil name for the black traffic than one Alison Sempill, who bode at the Skerburnfoot."
- "Whosoever shall be convicted of the abominable Crime of Buggery, committed either with Mankind or with any Animal, shall be liable, at the Discretion of the Court, to be kept in Penal Servitude for Life or for any Term not less than Ten Years."
Etymology
From Middle English abhomynable, from Old French abominable, from Late Latin abōminābilis (“deserving abhorrence”), from abōminor (“abhor, deprecate as an ill omen”), from ab (“from, away from”) + ōminor (“forebode, predict, presage”), from ōmen (“sign, token, omen”). Formerly erroneously folk-etymologized as deriving from Latin ab- + homo, literally "away from humankind," and therefore spelled abhominable, abhominal (Hence, Shakespeare puns on this when Hamlet speaks of incompetent actors that "imitate humanity abominably.")
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: abhomynable, abominable, abōminābilis
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /əˈbɑm.ə.nə.bl̩/
Usage
Inflected Forms
more abominable (comparative)
most abominable (superlative)
abhominable (alternative)
abhominal (alternative)