hate

1 of 2

noun

1
a
: intense hostility and aversion usually deriving from fear, anger, or sense of injury
b
: extreme dislike or disgust : antipathy, loathing
had a great hate of hard work
c
: a systematic and especially politically exploited expression of hatred
a crime motivated by bigotry and hate
often used before another noun
hate mail
an organization tracking hate groups
see also hate crime
2
: an object of hatred
a generation whose finest hate had been big businessF. L. Paxson

hate

2 of 2

verb

hated; hating

transitive verb

1
: to feel extreme enmity toward : to regard with active hostility
hates his country's enemies
2
: to have a strong aversion to : find very distasteful
hated to have to meet strangers
hate hypocrisy

intransitive verb

: to express or feel extreme enmity or active hostility
harsh faces and hating eyesKatherine A. Porter
Phrases
hate one's guts
: to hate someone with great intensity
Choose the Right Synonym for hate

hate, detest, abhor, abominate, loathe mean to feel strong aversion or intense dislike for.

hate implies an emotional aversion often coupled with enmity or malice.

hated the enemy with a passion

detest suggests violent antipathy.

detests cowards

abhor implies a deep often shuddering repugnance.

a crime abhorred by all

abominate suggests strong detestation and often moral condemnation.

abominates all forms of violence

loathe implies utter disgust and intolerance.

loathed the mere sight of them

Examples of hate in a Sentence

Noun These crimes are motivated by prejudice and hate. They have been unable to overcome their hates and fears. Verb He was a cruel tyrant who was hated and feared by his people. She hated them for betraying her. They were political rivals who truly hated each other. What is it that you hate about him most? children whose families have taught them to hate They hate being apart from each other. I hate the idea of leaving my mother alone all week. See More
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
The most prominent example of the cultural ascension of online child hate is probably the discourse over adults being asked to switch seats with parents of small kids on airplanes. Ej Dickson, Rolling Stone, 28 Nov. 2023 Most of these channels include content related to right-wing extremism and other forms of radicalized hate. Vittoria Elliott, WIRED, 28 Nov. 2023 Holland and the production team have spoken out against the messages of hate, continuing to urge audiences to not look away from the ongoing humanitarian crisis and to resist the dehumanizing narrative spread by government authorities. Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 21 Nov. 2023 Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, who is the first Jewish spouse of a president or vice president, spoke to the group about his work to combat antisemitism and hate. Queenie Wong, Los Angeles Times, 21 Nov. 2023 This is an outrageous, outrageous type of hate that's being expressed. Danielle Wallace, Fox News, 19 Nov. 2023 Students at the University of Connecticut have called on the university to do more to address hate incidents on campus. Fiona Glisson, NBC News, 18 Nov. 2023 Israel-Hamas War: Timeline and key developments in month of war Both pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel community leaders in the U.S. say hate and violence are not a part of their messaging. Kiara Alfonseca, ABC News, 15 Nov. 2023 But this story explores an incident that has yielded few headlines: an act of hate against pro-Palestinian students at the University of Texas at Austin. Elizabeth Both, NBC News, 13 Nov. 2023
Verb
Here are a few thoughts on how to help your colleagues and employees see the plus side of AI: Explain how AI and Generative AI can help reduce the joyless tasks that people hate. Deborah Lovich, Forbes, 29 Nov. 2023 Or just hate constantly having to dump your vacuum's debris? Andrea Navarro, Glamour, 27 Nov. 2023 These were the episodes in which viewers met Rachel’s sister Amy (Christina Applegate) for the first time and learned why Chandler hates Thanksgiving, what souvenirs Rachel saved from her relationship with Ross and how Chandler and Monica first met (a bad start that led to him losing his toe). Jackie Strause, The Hollywood Reporter, 23 Nov. 2023 Music Daryl Hall on the ups and downs of duo-dom, his secrets to aging well and hating Jann Wenner March 28, 2022 The two met in 1967 while escaping a shooting between rival gangs near Philadelphia. Emily St. Martin, Los Angeles Times, 22 Nov. 2023 Since the October 7 attack on Israel, hate groups also have attempted to latch onto the pro-Palestinian movement to push their own antisemitism-promoting agenda. Donie O'Sullivan, CNN, 14 Nov. 2023 Oliver has even been accused of hating birds by Save the Kiwi’s Erin Reilly. Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 14 Nov. 2023 The second big change to Gmail starting in 2024 concerns something everyone hates, namely spam. Davey Winder, Forbes, 13 Nov. 2023 Networkers get most of their motivation from building relationships with colleagues and are more likely to hate working from home. Ryan Hogg, Fortune Europe, 10 Nov. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, probably derivative of haten "to hate entry 2," replacing hete "hate, hatred," going back to Old English, going back to Germanic *hatiz- (whence, also inflected as an i-stem as in Old English, Old Saxon heti "hatred," and, inflected as a neuter strong noun, Old Norse hatr "hatred, spite" and Gothic hatis "anger, enmity"), perhaps going back to Indo-European *ḱh2d-es-, derivative of a base *ḱeh2d- "grief, pain, hatred," whence, with different ablaut grades and suffixation, Oscan cadeis (genitive singular) "ill will," Middle Irish cais "love, hatred," Old Welsh cás "bitterness, hatred" (Celtic from a derivative *ḱh2d-ti-), Greek kêdos (neuter) "care, grief, (in plural) funeral rites, mourning, connection by marriage," Avestan sādra- "grief, pain, calamity"

Note: Though this Indo-European etymon is generally accepted in etymological dictionaries of the relevant older languages, the semantic relations are far from transparent, in particular the relation between "grief, mourning, care" (Greek, Iranian) and "hatred" (Germanic, Italic, and Celtic, though the ambiguity of the Irish word is peculiar).

Verb

Middle English haten, going back to Old English hatian, going back to Germanic *hatōjan- (whence Old Saxon haton "to hate," Old High German hazzōn, Old Norse hata,), derivative from the base of *hatiz- hate entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of hate was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near hate

Cite this Entry

“Hate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hate. Accessed 8 Dec. 2023.

Kids Definition

hate

1 of 2 noun
1
: strong dislike
2
: something or someone that is hated

hate

2 of 2 verb
hated; hating
1
: to feel strong dislike toward
hates his country's enemies
2
a
: to have a strong feeling of disgust for
hate hypocrisy
b
: to find distasteful : dislike
hates cold weather
hater noun

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