adj · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
US:/əˈbɑm.ə.nə.bl̩/
US:/əˈbɑm.nə.bl̩/
New-Zealand:/ɘˈbɔm.ɘ.nɘ.bɯ/
California:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:AH0 B AA1 M AH0 N AH0 B AH0 L
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
adj
Meaning 1
Worthy of, or causing, abhorrence, as a thing of evil omen; odious in the utmost degree; very hateful; detestable; loathsome; execrable.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
abominable crime
utterly abominable
He committed an abominable act of cruelty.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
adj
Meaning 2
Excessive, large (used as an intensifier).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
adj
Meaning 3
Very bad or inferior.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
adj
Meaning 4
Disagreeable or unpleasant.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
From Middle English abhomynable, from Old French abominable, from Late Latin abōminābilis (“deserving abhorrence”), from abōminor (“abhor, deprecate as an ill omen”), from ab (“from, away from”) + ōminor (“forebode, predict, presage”), from ōmen (“sign, token, omen”). Formerly erroneously folk-etymologized as deriving from Latin ab- + homo, literally "away from humankind," and therefore spelled abhominable, abhominal (Hence, Shakespeare puns on this when Hamlet speaks of incompetent actors that "imitate humanity abominably.")
Across languages
Translations
91 source translations are retained for this English entry.
