abhorrent
/əbˈhɒrənt/ (bre, ipa) · /əbˈhɔːrənt/ (ame, ipa) · /əb-ˈhȯr-ənt -ˈhär-, ab-/ (ame, mw)
abhorrent — adjective
- abhorrentpositive
- more abhorrentcomparative
- most abhorrentsuperlative
1. so evil or shameful that people feel disgusted and want nothing to do with it
so evil or shameful that people feel disgusted and want nothing to do with it
The use of child labour in factories is an abhorrent practice that many consumers now refuse to support.
attributive use before noun: abhorrent practice
Mei-Lin found her colleague's racist remarks abhorrent and immediately reported them to management.
pattern: find [noun] abhorrent
Most people consider the deliberate bombing of hospitals during war to be abhorrent.
The dictator's treatment of political prisoners was abhorrent to the international community.
Dr. Okafor described the refugee camp's living conditions as abhorrent, with no clean water available.
- detestable
Similar strength but focuses more on deserving hatred; abhorrent emphasises the visceral disgust and recoiling reaction.
- repugnant
Closely overlaps with abhorrent but leans slightly more toward physical or emotional disgust rather than moral outrage.
- odious
More formal and literary; describes something intensely hateful, with a connotation of being offensive to social or personal sensibilities.
- loathsome
Emphasises the feeling of being sickened; common in descriptions of physical disgust as well as moral condemnation.
- admirable
Describes something deserving respect and approval — the opposite moral judgment.
- commendable
Describes actions that deserve praise, contrasting with the strong condemnation implied by abhorrent.
文法句型
abhorrent + to + noun phrase (who finds it offensive)
abhorrent + noun (describing the thing itself)
find/consider + noun + abhorrent
用法筆記
Commonly used in the pattern 'abhorrent to + noun phrase' to specify who is disgusted, or attributively before nouns like 'crime', 'practice', or 'act' that name the morally repulsive thing.
常見錯誤
❌ "His aberrant behaviour confused everyone." — Aberrant means unusual or unexpected. Do not confuse it with abhorrent, which means morally repulsive.