Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To regard with horror or loathing; detest: "The problem with Establishment Republicans is they abhor the unseemliness of a political brawl” ( Patrick J. Buchanan).
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Literally, to shrink back from with horror or dread; hence, to regard with repugnance; hate extremely or with loathing; loathe, detest, or abominate: as, to abhor evil; to abhor intrigue.
- To fill with horror and loathing; horrify.
- Synonyms Hate, Abhor, Detest, etc. See hate.
- To shrink back with disgust, or with fear and shudderings.
- To be antagonistic; be averse or of opposite character: with from.
Wiktionary
- v. transitive To turn aside or avoid; to keep away from; to reject.
- v. transitive, canon law, obsolete To protest against; to reject solemnly.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To shrink back with shuddering from; to regard with horror or detestation; to feel excessive repugnance toward; to detest to extremity; to loathe.
- v. obsolete To fill with horror or disgust.
- v. (Canon Law), obsolete To protest against; to reject solemnly.
- v. obsolete, obsolete To shrink back with horror, disgust, or dislike; to be contrary or averse; -- with.
WordNet 3.0
- v. find repugnant
Etymologies
- Middle English abhorren, from Latin abhorrēre, to shrink from : ab-, from; see ab-1 + horrēre, to shudder. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Most women I am sure would abhor me -- yes, Dorcas -- _abhor_ me. ”
“Mr. Beck, this scary “social justice” phrase you abhor is exactly what many believe is the correct objective for churches and other community organizations, saving the taxpayer millions upon millions upon millions of dollars annually.”
“Can't say I fancy the job much, but the only thing I positively abhor is 'faking' a society letter.”
“All the hellish arts of malice and falsehood are made use of to render them odious or despicable; their words and actions are misconstrued, even that which they abhor is fathered upon them, laws are made to ensnare them (Dan.vi. 4, &c.), and all to ruin them and root them out.”
Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume III (Job to Song of Solomon)
“Censorship of the President of the United States of America without prior and complete information, i.e. the speech, is to be abhorred. "abhor" - "to regard with extreme repugnance.”
“He said of them “whose actions I ever did abhor, that is, their Destruction of others, amongst whom I yet lived with a kind of shameless bashfulness.””
“Saint Augustine admits that he lived with a fast set, as people say now -- "the Depravers" or "Destroyers"; though he loved them little, "whose actions I ever did abhor, that is, their Destruction of others, amongst whom I yet lived with a kind of shameless bashfulness.”
“There is another way, which you and your ken would abhor, that is to grant a basic respect for other humans.”
“To be honest, I kind of abhor the title of "space tourist.”
“Here, values are not to be attached to objects; instead, we should value (or "abhor") processes.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘abhor’.
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Test Prep or Just for fun
Building a list for standardized test prep or just for learning some new words! Please add any words that you feel are important for the SAT/GRE/GMAT etc...
throng, morass, parley, facile, kismet, strife, jetsam, carrion, annex, harbinger, vestige, surreptitious and 575 more...
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1100
abound, technology, branch of knowled..., prognosticate, automaton, matron, an older married ..., realm, special field of ..., kingdom, annals, historical records and 981 more...
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3/4 year Vocab List
voracious, indiscriminate, eminent, steeped, replete, awe, buffoon, abound, technology, prognosticate, automaton, matron and 96 more...
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3/4 year Vocab List
voracious, indiscriminate, eminent, steeped, replete, awe, buffoon, abound, technology, prognosticate, automaton, matron and 96 more...
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501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
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501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
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GRE 2014
abase, abate, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abjure, abortive, abound, abrasive, abreast, abridge and 1577 more...
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goodkitten's list
there is going to be a lot of words...
flammivomous, pep, electrolyzation, research, constrain, why, refrigerator, invisible, windblown, curate's egg, echoism, drumble and 103 more...
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RELI - words with Biblical connotations
Words in the Bible evoking biblical stories or with special spiritual meaning. Proper names have been reduced to the minimum.
ark, judgement, holy, saint, baptism, spirit, love, eternal, altar, balsam, covenant, flood and 1115 more...
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501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
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501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
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Words build meanings from origins( et...
These come from gamma meditation ,I think.
discursive, exogenous, machinations, purportedly, sumptuous, congruity, cantankerous, incongruous, festoon, hessian, ratiocinative, stratigraphic and 2057 more...
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A to abominator (Chambers)
aa gets over 40 hits
aardvark 49 hits
abbatoir 103 hits
abjure 138 hitsA, A-line, A-list, A-lister, A 1, A-road, A-side, from A to B, from A to Z, A-bomb, A-effect, A level and 254 more...
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Philosophic , etymology
every major discipline has uniquely developed esoteric nomenclature to facilitate interdisciplinary dissemination
quale , qualia, elegy, tacet, lexicon, annunciate, caste, eros, contrive, purlicue, irony, venacular, dilapidate and 569 more...
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06-13 GRE list
churlish, unswear, abnegate, abjure, state, indemnification, adumbrated, reny, abash, recondite, rescission, esoteric and 260 more...
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Express Yourself
Words Describing Emotions
abhor, diffident, bullience, effusice, enervate, frenetic, impetuous, implacable, listless, mercurial, rancorous, reticent and 7 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for abhor.
uselessness Must be why I can never seem to keep my apartment clean. Feb 22, 2007
seanahan nature abhors a vacuum. Feb 22, 2007