Odious Meaning
/ˈəʊ.di.əs/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjArousing or meriting strong dislike, aversion, or intense displeasure.
Sentence Examples
Pray do not talk of that odious man.
It was an odious face—crafty, vicious, malignant, with shifty, light-grey eyes and white lashes.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
The dictator's cruel actions were so ____ that everyone in the country hated him.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The dictator's ____ policies led to widespread protests and international condemnation.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English odious, from Old French odieus, from Latin odiōsus, from odium (“hate”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"You told a lie, an odious damned lie: / Upon my soul, a lie, a wicked lie!"
— c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii], lines 179-80:
"I own no crime, unless it be a crime to've hindered you from perpetrating that which would have made you odious to mankind, at least the fairest half."
— 1750, “Theodora”, Thomas Morell (lyrics), George Frideric Handel (music):
"He looks upon study as an odious fetter; his time is spent in the open air, climbing the hills or rowing on the lake."
— 1818, Mary Shelley, chapter 6, in Frankenstein, archived from the original on 08 May 2013:
"He always detested the trade, and it was only necessity, and the offer of his mother’s brother, a London apothecary of low family, into which Pendennis’s father had demeaned himself by marrying, that forced John Pendennis into so odious a calling."
— 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 2, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:
""He was a dreadful person, a bully to everyone else, but to me something infinitely worse. He made odious love to me, boasted of his wealth, said that if I married him I would have the finest diamonds in London, and finally, when I would have nothing to do with him, he seized me in his arms one day after dinner—he was hideously strong—and he swore that he would not let me go until I had kissed him.""
— 1903 December 26, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist”, in The Return of Sherlock Holmes, New York, N.Y.: McClure, Phillips & Co., published February 1905, →OCLC:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The dictator's cruel actions were so ____ that everyone in the country hated him.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The dictator's ____ policies led to widespread protests and international condemnation.