detestation means hate coupled with disgust; abhorrence. It carries an Arena rating of 1736, earned across 6 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, detestation ranks #1,422 of 13,218 for Most Satisfying to Say, #1,969 of 13,218 for Most Elegant Words, #2,505 of 13,218 for Scariest Words, #3,294 of 13,218 for Words That Escaped Their Books.
Why “detestation” is a great word
An intense hatred coupled with disgust; abhorrence. It descends from the Middle French détestation, from Latin dētestātiōnem (nominative dētestātiō), from dētestārī ('to curse, detest'), from de- ('down, away') + testārī ('to bear witness, invoke'). First attested in English in the early 15th century. Unlike 'loathing,' which foregrounds a visceral, almost biological recoil, or 'abomination,' which names the offending object itself, detestation is the settled, moral posture of the soul—a cold, judicial verdict. It is the chill silence that follows a betrayal, the deliberate turning of a picture face-down on a desk, the meticulous refusal to even speak a certain name; it is hatred that has calcified into a principle—a final, silent testimony that some things are unworthy of the world's light.
Etymology
From Middle French détestation.
noun
- Hate coupled with disgust; abhorrence.““… No rogue e’er felt the halter draw, with a good opinion of the law, and perhaps my own detestation of the law arises from my having frequently broken it. …””
- Something detested.“Neckties are a real detestation for them.”
Words closest in meaning
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