execrate

English

Etymology

From Latin exsecrārī, execrārī, from ex (out) + sacrāre (to consecrate, declare accursed).

Verb

execrate (third-person singular simple present execrates, present participle execrating, simple past and past participle execrated)

  1. (transitive) to feel loathing for; to abhor
    • 1932, Edwin Arlington Robinson, Nicodemus, "Prodigal Son":
      And were I not a thing for you and me
      To execrate in angish, you would be
      As indigent a stranger to surprise,
      I fear, as I was once, and as unwise.
  2. (transitive) to declare to be hateful or abhorrent; to denounce
    Synonyms: anathematize, comminate, curse, damn, imprecate, maledict, obdurate
  3. (intransitive, archaic) to invoke a curse; to curse or swear
    • 1914, James Joyce, Dubliniers, "Counterparts":
      He longed to execrate aloud, to bring his fist down on something violently.

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

  • execrate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
  • execrate in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
  • execrate at OneLook Dictionary Search
  • execrate” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001–2019.

Anagrams


Latin

Participle

exēcrāte

  1. vocative masculine singular of exēcrātus
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