Despicable

//dɪˈspɪkəbəl// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A wretched or wicked person.

    "Robbers assemble other robbers for the purpose of robbery; but Christians gather thieves, bandits, and other despicables for the purpose of spiritual transformation."

Adjective
  1. 1
    Fit or deserving to be despised; contemptible; mean.

    "The physical penis is consumed by despicable fish, animals of the turgid depths, but the higher phallus, the image of resurrection through the goddess, is fashioned as a sacred icon."

Adjective
  1. 1
    morally reprehensible wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
contemptiblemeanvilecontemptiblemeanobscene

Example

More examples

"I am ashamed of your despicable deed."

Etymology

From Late Latin dēspicābilis, from Latin dēspicor, a variant of dēspiciō (“I despise”), from de (“down”) + speciō (“I look at, behold”). First attested in the 1550s. Equivalent to despise + -able.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.