as in vile
not following or in accordance with standards of honor and decency
the detestable actions of a nasty little man
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Recent Examples of detestable
Social media soon was flooded with posts from people who found the character detestable, and the actor had no problem with that.
—
Matt Robison, Newsweek, 19 Feb. 2025
What’s more, a loss at Hell in a Cell could also force McIntyre to become an even more detestable heel in the weeks and months ahead.
—Blake Oestriecher, Forbes, 5 Oct. 2024
Top-notch casting is the cherry on top, with Lily James as the supremely likable Cinderella, Richard Madden as her down-to-earth prince, Cate Blanchett as the detestable stepmother with her own imperfect backstory, and Helena Bonham Carter as one lovably flighty fairy godmother.
—Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 22 Mar. 2025
Can’t wait for the Stanley Cup window to close on Team Tank, easily the most detestable team in the League.
—Daniel Nugent-Bowman, The Athletic, 15 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for detestable
Matt Robison, Newsweek, 19 Feb. 2025
What’s more, a loss at Hell in a Cell could also force McIntyre to become an even more detestable heel in the weeks and months ahead.
—Blake Oestriecher, Forbes, 5 Oct. 2024
Top-notch casting is the cherry on top, with Lily James as the supremely likable Cinderella, Richard Madden as her down-to-earth prince, Cate Blanchett as the detestable stepmother with her own imperfect backstory, and Helena Bonham Carter as one lovably flighty fairy godmother.
—Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 22 Mar. 2025
Can’t wait for the Stanley Cup window to close on Team Tank, easily the most detestable team in the League.
—Daniel Nugent-Bowman, The Athletic, 15 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for detestable
Recent Examples of Synonyms for detestable
Adjective
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Twain’s early writing and private letters and diaries contain vile language and sentiments.—
Graeme Wood,
The Atlantic,
9 May 2025
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The Imperial City Sewers you’re meant to traverse while learning the basics of the game look hideous and vile.—
Jamal Michel,
New York Times,
29 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Altering Medicaid in any way that decreases services, decreases funding to the states, or builds roadblocks to care is immoral and against Christian values.—
Dr. James W. Cox-Chapman,
Hartford Courant,
11 May 2025
-
Under him, juvenile justice is unjust, and the department has been spending in ways that are immoral and not proper accounting or spending of taxes.—
Reader Commentary,
Baltimore Sun,
8 May 2025
Adjective
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Coal plants are also the dirtiest fossil fuel in terms of planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions.—
Sammy Roth,
Los Angeles Times,
8 May 2025
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They were bullied, beaten, humiliated, tortured and shot, with productive laborers crammed on top of one another in the dirty stone barracks—separately from the Jewish prisoners, whose numbers grew ever larger.—
Paul Hockenos,
Smithsonian Magazine,
8 May 2025
Adjective
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The apps have a nasty trick that fools users into the initial download, and once on a phone, the damage is done.—
Zak Doffman,
Forbes.com,
9 May 2025
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He’s been the spirit of the Panthers’ skillfully nasty style the previous two springs.—
Dave Hyde,
Sun Sentinel,
8 May 2025
Adjective
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This dynamic has created a cruel catch-22 which forces an impossible choice: register and risk immediate deportation, or refuse and become criminalized for noncompliance, destroying any path to legal status.—
Kica Matos,
Time,
2 May 2025
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Milano’s extensive medical history sometimes feels too cruel to detail; his only full season came as a rookie in 2017.—
Tim Graham,
New York Times,
2 May 2025
Adjective
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At the time, some of LeBron’s critics saw this as contemptible.—
Ross Andersen,
The Atlantic,
16 Mar. 2025
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Civil-liberties organizations have defended neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan on the basis that, unless there is free speech for the most contemptible members of society, there cannot be free speech for all.—
Jay Caspian Kang,
The New Yorker,
14 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Rounding up immigrant children at school also runs the risk of deporting children who are citizens and separating children from their parents, a despicable enforcement practice or result that often happened during the first Trump administration.—
Billal Rahman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 May 2025
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The fantasy, a timely rebuke to the despicable contempt of RFK Jr., is that neurodivergence makes you into a superhero.—
A.A. Dowd,
Rolling Stone,
25 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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But even when locked in a tense, deadly standoff with the vicious Barbie, Moulin doesn’t break, and his courage and silence helps lead to the liberation of France, while leaving behind a new spirit of strength and resistance.—
Alex Ritman,
Variety,
10 May 2025
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Bone Tomahawk Year: 2015 Runtime: 2h 11m Director: S. Craig Zahler S. Craig Zahler has become one of the most divisive filmmakers working today after three vicious, brutal movies — Bone Tomahawk, Brawl in Cell Block 99, and Dragged Across Concrete.—
Brian Tallerico,
Vulture,
7 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Detestable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/detestable. Accessed 20 May. 2025.
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