abject
ab·ject
adjective
of the most contemptible kind
- “abject cowardice”
- “a low stunt to pull”
- “a low-down sneak”
- “his miserable treatment of his family”
- “You miserable skunk!”
- “a scummy rabble”
- “a scurvy trick”
most unfortunate or miserable
- “the most abject slaves joined in the revolt”
- “abject poverty”
showing utter resignation or hopelessness
- “abject surrender”
Origin
PIE word *h₂epó The adjective is derived from Late Middle English abiect, abject (adjective) [and other forms], from Middle French abject (modern French abject, abjet (obsolete)), and from its etymon Latin abiectus (“abandoned; cast aside”), an adjective use of the perfect passive participle of abiciō (“to discard, throw away”), from ab- (prefix meaning ‘away from’) + iaciō (“to throw”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(H)yeh₁- (“to throw”)). The noun is derived from the adjective. Cognates * Italian abiecto (obsolete), abietto * Late Latin abiectus (“humble or poor person”, noun) * Spanish abjecto (obsolete), abyecto
Related words
WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.