Definition of abhor
abhorred
;abhorring
transitive verb
: to regard with extreme repugnance : to feel hatred or loathing for : loathe abhorred violence
Indulge Your Inner Word Nerd
abhor was our Word of the Day on 01/13/2013. Hear the podcast!
Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP
Examples of abhor in a Sentence
We believe we know that Americans abhor extremes and mistrust ideology. —David Frum, Atlantic, March 1995
I abhor latter-day, modishly camp take-offs of my cherished boyhood heroes and heroines (Little Orphan Annie, Wonder Woman, Invisible Scarlet O'Neil). —Mordecai Richler, New York Times Book Review, 3 May 1987
He abhorred grandiosity. When he came to New York to revise his manuscripts and galley proofs, he would hole up in a little cubicle on the attic floor of the old 52nd Street mansion that went by the name of Random House. —Norman Cousins, Saturday Review, April 1981
abhors the way people leave their trash at the picnic sites in the park
Recent Examples of abhor from the Web
-
An imbalance between political and operational considerations is precisely what General McMaster abhorred about the Vietnam-era process.
-
He was invited to speak at the 2016 Democratic convention and cheered by the same people who celebrated Khizr Khan and claim to abhor Trump’s targeting of Muslims.
-
Leftist diehards, including many former Communists, abhor him for aligning with conservatives including Silvio Berlusconi, who dominated the political landscape here for nearly two decades.
-
For conservatives who abhor Trumpism this presents a hard dilemma.
-
Hardline Islamists in Pakistan, like Islamists everywhere, abhor popular cinema and music.
-
At least now that the slavers have laid siege, Tyrion might not have to justify his seven-years-of-slavery compromise to Daenerys, who typically abhors compromise on the issue of slavery.
-
Since fashion, as well as nature, abhors a vacuum, Coach, the United States accessories powerhouse, has swooped in to take its place.
-
The paradox of nature tourism is that tourism, like any industry, depends on customers, but nature abhors people.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'abhor'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The Horror in ahbor
Abhor means “to loathe” or “to hate,” and while loathe and hate have roots in Old English, abhor derives from Latin. The roots of abhor can give us a deeper understanding of both the strength of the dislike expressed by the word and its relationship to other words in English. It came from the Latin word abhorrēre, which meant “to recoil from” or “to be repugnant to,” and was formed by combining ab-, meaning “from” and horrēre, meaning “to bristle,” “to tremble,” or “to shudder.” This word for trembling or shuddering in reaction to something scary or awful is related to the word that names of the cause of those reactions—the Latin word horror, which was later borrowed into English. The -hor of abhor is also the hor- of horror.
Synonym Discussion of abhor
ABHOR Defined for Kids
Learn More about abhor
-
See words that rhyme with abhor Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for abhor Spanish Central: Translation of abhor Nglish: Translation of abhor for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of abhor for Arabic speakers
Seen and Heard
What made you want to look up abhor? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Writing? Check your grammar now!