Link Centre Dictionary

despicable

des·pi·cable

UK/dɪˈspɪkəbəl/ US/ˈdɛspɪkəbəl/ fairly common

adjective

1.

worthy only of being despised and rejected

  • “a contemptible lack of courage”
  • “A little, wretched, despicable creature, a worm, a mere nothing...that has risen up in contempt against the majesty of Heaven and earth” Jonathan Edwards
Synonyms
Similar
2.

morally reprehensible

  • “would do something as despicable as murder”
  • “ugly crimes”
  • “the vile development of slavery appalled them”
  • “a slimy little liar”
Similar

Origin

From Late Latin dēspicābilis, from Latin dēspicor, a variant of dēspiciō (“to despise”), from de (“down”) + speciō (“to look at, behold”). First attested in the 1550s. Equivalent to despise + -able.

Related words

Word family

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.