Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To feel strong dislike for or hostility toward.
  • intransitive verb To feel dislike or distaste for.
  • intransitive verb To be disinclined (to do something) out of politeness or a need to apologize.
  • intransitive verb To feel hatred.
  • noun Intense animosity or dislike; hatred.
  • idiom (hate on (someone)) To ridicule, insult, or act hatefully toward.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An emotion of extreme or passionate dislike or aversion; inveterate ill-will; hatred.
  • noun Vengeance; punishment.
  • noun Synonyms Ill-will, Enmity, etc. See animosity. (See also hatred.)
  • See hight.
  • To regard with a strong and passionate dislike or aversion; regard with extreme ill-will.
  • In a weakened sense, to dislike; be averse; be unwilling: commonly with an infinitive.
  • To have little regard for, or less than for some other; despise in comparison with something else regarded as more worthy: a use of the word in Scripture.
  • Synonyms Hate, Abhor, Detest, Abominate, Loathe. These words express the strongest forms of dislike and aversion of either persons or things. Hate may include the others; it is more permanent and includes more ill-will toward that which is hated. To abhor, literally to start from with horror, is to have all the better feelings excited against that which is abhorred: as, we abhor cruelty. To detest, literally to bear witness against, is to condemn with indignation. Abominate, by derivation and the Biblical use of its congeners, has generally reference to what is offensive to moral and religious sentiment. To loathe is primarily to have great aversion to food, and hence to have like disgust toward that which is offensive to the moral nature or the feelings.
  • To feel hatred: as, one who neither loves nor hates.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To have a great aversion to, with a strong desire that evil should befall the person toward whom the feeling is directed; to dislike intensely; to detest
  • transitive verb To be very unwilling; followed by an infinitive, or a substantive clause with that
  • transitive verb (Script.) To love less, relatively.
  • noun Strong aversion coupled with desire that evil should befall the person toward whom the feeling is directed; as exercised toward things, intense dislike; hatred; detestation; -- opposed to love.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive To dislike intensely; to feel strong hostility towards.
  • verb transitive, slang To dislike intensely due to envy.
  • noun An object of hatred.
  • noun Hatred.
  • noun Internet, colloquial Negative feedback, abusive behaviour.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb dislike intensely; feel antipathy or aversion towards
  • noun the emotion of intense dislike; a feeling of dislike so strong that it demands action

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English haten, from Old English hatian. N., Middle English, from Old English hete.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old English hatian. Cognate with Dutch haten, German hassen, Swedish hata, French haïr (a Germanic borrowing). From Proto-Germanic *hatjanan (“to hate”), from Proto-Germanic *hataz (“hatred, hate”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱād- (“strong emotion”).

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old English hete, from Proto-Germanic *hataz. Cognate with West Frisian haat, Dutch haat, German Hass, Swedish hat.

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Examples

  • I hate Saint Winifred's, I hate Dr Lane, I hate Robertson, and I _hate, hate, hate_ Paton! "he said, stamping angrily.

    St. Winifred's, or The World of School 1867

  • And I hate, hate, *hate* the idea of starting a query letter with, say, 'Dear Seraphina Snark'.

    Archive 2006-09-10 Miss Snark 2006

  • I personally * hate hate hate* when I feel like doing stuff that I know is * stupid stupid stupid*.

    misspinkkate Diary Entry misspinkkate 2003

  •    In the case of my uncle, he has a career ... and I hate to see him-I hate  to see his name used.

    TEDBUNDY Michaud, S G & Aynesworth H 1989

  • I meant to live so that I could tell you again to your face that I hate you, hate you -- _hate_ you!

    The Making of a Soul Kathlyn Rhodes

  • "I hate, I hate, I _hate_ your mother -- if she does have rings!"

    The Iron Woman Margaret Wade Campbell Deland 1901

  • And when I think of that I hate you, I _hate you_! ...

    Mare Nostrum (Our Sea) A Novel Vicente Blasco Ib����ez 1897

  • She looked fixedly at the prison, then with angry fires flashing in her dark eyes: "I hate you, I _hate_ you," she cried.

    Through the Wall Cleveland Moffett 1894

  • "But, papa, I hate him so -- I just _hate_ him!" she declared, earnestly.

    Santa Claus's Partner Thomas Nelson Page 1887

  • I can work on that; and, lassies, it will be a great relief to me, for I hate -- I _hate_ being purred on and kissed all day long.

    Hollyhock A Spirit of Mischief L. T. Meade 1884

Comments

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  • How does what you hate define you? see: I plus not-I equals everything.

    December 22, 2006

  • Is it possible to hate hate?

    September 3, 2008

  • Not much joy on ipn-iee, 'boros.

    September 30, 2008

  • Hate has been looked up 653 times, favorited 0 times, listed 35 times, commented on 3 times, and has a Scrabble score of 7.

    July 24, 2010