abominable
adjective
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The tendency to hate evil omens is a vital part of the history of abominable. The word descends from the Latin verb abominari, which means "to deprecate as an ill omen" or "to detest"; abominari itself comes from ab- plus omin- ("from an omen"). When English speakers adopted abominable in the 14th century, they used it to express their disgust over evil or truly detestable things—and for 500 years that's the way things stood. In the 17th century, the word's meaning moderated, so that Scottish novelist William Black could write in A Princess of Thule (1873), "Sheila had nothing to do with the introduction of this abominable decoration." Other descendants of abominari are abominate ("to hate or loathe intensely") and abomination ("something odious or detestable").
Examples of abominable in a Sentence
Newsweek, 28 Feb. 2025
Essay The Agony and the Ecstasy of the West Edmonton Mall
Max Fawcett
On learning to love the abominable mix of Soviet brutalism and unrelenting American capitalism around which Edmonton revolves.
—Max Ufberg, hazlitt.net, 4 Jan. 2025
The clear attempt to further divide our country was abominable.
—Vivian Jones, The Tennessean, 8 Mar. 2024
On learning to love the abominable mix of Soviet brutalism and unrelenting American capitalism around which Edmonton revolves.
—Max Ufberg, hazlitt.net, 4 Jan. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Abominable.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/abominable. Accessed 2 May. 2025.
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abominable
adjective
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