Abhorrent Meaning
/æbˈ(h)ɒɹənt/Definition, CEFR level C2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjInconsistent with, or far removed from, something; strongly opposed.
adjContrary to something; discordant.
Sentence Examples
It is abhorrent to me.
The whole idea is abhorrent to me.
The behaviour of the kids during the lesson was abhorrent.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The cruel treatment of prisoners was ____ to all who valued human rights and basic dignity.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Racism is an ____ ideology that has no place in society.
Word Origin & History
Borrowed from Latin abhorrēns, abhorrēntis, present active participle of abhorreō (“abhor”). Equivalent to abhor + -ent.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The persons most abhorrent from blood, and treason, and arbitrary confiscation, might remain silent spectators of this civil war between the vices."
— 1803, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France:
"This legal, and, as it should seem, injudicious profanation, so abhorrent to out stricter principles, was received with a very faint murmur, ..."
— 1827, Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline And Fall of the Roman Empire:
"In establishing his ideal state he expressed some opinions utterly abhorrent to our customs and ways of living. He believed, for instance, that all wives should be held in common ... with the result that no one could tell his own children from those of a perfect stranger."
— 1990, James Hankins, Plato in the Italian Renaissance:
"If Pride, abhorrent as it is, and if Ambition, ..."
— 1833, Isaac Taylor, Fanaticism:
"That, I protest, is a doctrine psychologically impossible and ethically abhorrent."
— 1936, Paul E. More, On Being Human:
Explore More C2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The cruel treatment of prisoners was ____ to all who valued human rights and basic dignity.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Racism is an ____ ideology that has no place in society.