as in disliked
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as in hated
to dislike strongly
I detest pepperoni, and wouldn't eat it if you paid me!
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Recent Examples of detested
Graeme Wood, The Atlantic, 3 Mar. 2026
Portable generator manufacturer, Generac Holdings (GNRC) , was a Covid beneficiary and darling that soon thereafter was as detested as it was admired.
—Carter Braxton Worth, CNBC, 20 Feb. 2026
When his teams didn’t entertain, Moe became the show, this cursing, grumbling, rumpled 6-foot-5 firebrand who dressed like a ’70s private detective, a disheveled anti-hero who detested suits.
—Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 18 Feb. 2026
It was loved by the students attending — and resoundingly detested by the judges.
—Jim Farmer, AJC.com, 6 Feb. 2026
The current mayor, Tom Koch, a fellow townie hack of Meatball’s, is almost as detested across the board as Morrissey.
—Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 14 Jan. 2026
Meanwhile, Marie Antoinette’s parties embodied everything that her haters detested.
—Serena Turner, Vanity Fair, 29 Dec. 2025
Those who predicted a doomed future for all of humanity called us addicts and criminals, leeches and slime (and way worse things) because we were detested, shouted at, dragged by our arms across bedrooms and public sporting events.
—Literary Hub, 28 Oct. 2025
Black South Africans detested the Springboks as a symbol of the brutally violent, repressive apartheid regime.
—Mary Crossan, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025
Verb
So far, all attempts to associate Buttigieg with his Gramscian father have failed—if anything, Buttigieg seems to have engaged in an oedipal reversal of the Gramscian formula, rejecting radicalism in favor of precisely the kind of technocratic capitalism that Gramsci would have detested.
—Graeme Wood, The Atlantic, 3 Mar. 2026
Portable generator manufacturer, Generac Holdings (GNRC) , was a Covid beneficiary and darling that soon thereafter was as detested as it was admired.
—Carter Braxton Worth, CNBC, 20 Feb. 2026
When his teams didn’t entertain, Moe became the show, this cursing, grumbling, rumpled 6-foot-5 firebrand who dressed like a ’70s private detective, a disheveled anti-hero who detested suits.
—Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 18 Feb. 2026
It was loved by the students attending — and resoundingly detested by the judges.
—Jim Farmer, AJC.com, 6 Feb. 2026
The current mayor, Tom Koch, a fellow townie hack of Meatball’s, is almost as detested across the board as Morrissey.
—Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 14 Jan. 2026
Meanwhile, Marie Antoinette’s parties embodied everything that her haters detested.
—Serena Turner, Vanity Fair, 29 Dec. 2025
Those who predicted a doomed future for all of humanity called us addicts and criminals, leeches and slime (and way worse things) because we were detested, shouted at, dragged by our arms across bedrooms and public sporting events.
—Literary Hub, 28 Oct. 2025
Black South Africans detested the Springboks as a symbol of the brutally violent, repressive apartheid regime.
—Mary Crossan, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for detested
Adjective
-
The British prime minister is only marginally less disliked by Britons, with his net favorability of minus 48 one of the worst since YouGov started tracking this metric in the 1970s.—
Alexander Smith,
NBC news,
25 Mar. 2026
-
The 1991 Gulf War was a stunning victory for the United States military, which has colored its assumptions about what conventional war—as opposed to counterinsurgency, a mission unwanted and disliked—should look like.—
Eliot A. Cohen,
The Atlantic,
25 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The three shooters, conspiracy theorists who hated the police, were shot and killed by officers after a six-hour siege in the region of Wieambilla.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
30 Mar. 2026
-
But certain airports are more hated than others.—
Ellen Cushing,
The Atlantic,
26 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
This is a despised company right now.—
Jim Cramer,
CNBC,
26 Feb. 2026
-
For most households, cleaning the oven is a despised chore.—
Hallie Milstein,
Southern Living,
4 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Detested.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/detested. Accessed 2 Apr. 2026.
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