abominable

CEFRC2

/əˈbɑm.ə.nə.bl̩/

adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Extremely unpleasant, bad, or unacceptable.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extra detail

    Excessive, large (used as an intensifier).

Examples

  • Dropping nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was an abominable act.

  • The Abominable Snowman is a Himalayan monster.

At a glance

Sits at C2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
4

Also pronounced

  • /ɘˈbɔm.ɘ.nɘ.bɯ/

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meanings

  1. Very bad or inferior.

  2. Worthy of, or causing, abhorrence, as a thing of evil omen; odious in the utmost degree; very hateful; detestable; loathsome; execrable.

  3. Disagreeable or unpleasant.

More examples

In context

  • He committed an abominable act of cruelty.

  • All excess is abominable.

  • abominable crime

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The prison conditions were so blank that they sparked an international outcry.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

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.")