Abominable
adj ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 Worthy of, or causing, abhorrence, as a thing of evil omen; odious in the utmost degree; very hateful; detestable; loathsome; execrable.
"abominable crime"
- 2 Excessive, large (used as an intensifier). obsolete
- 3 Very bad or inferior.
- 4 Disagreeable or unpleasant.
"abominable weather"
- 1 exceptionally bad or displeasing wordnet
- 2 unequivocally detestable wordnet
Example
More examples"The Abominable Snowman is a Himalayan monster."
Etymology
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.")
Related phrases
More for "abominable"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.