despise

despise — verb

1. to have a feeling of complete hatred toward a person, group, or thing, believing

1.verbtransitiveB2
Definition

to have a feeling of complete hatred toward a person, group, or thing, believing that they have no value or good qualities at all

Example

Yael despises dishonest politicians who make promises and then break every single one.

despise + noun for moral judgment

The film was widely despised by critics for its shallow plot and terrible acting.

passive: despised by [group] for [reason]

Common collocations
  • despise + [person/group] for [reason]
  • despise + [something] about [someone/something]
  • widely despised
  • openly despise
Synonyms
  • loathe

    similar strength but focuses more on visceral disgust or repulsion rather than moral judgment

  • detest

    a strong version of 'hate' but without the element of looking down on someone as worthless

  • disdain

    emphasizes a feeling of superiority and cold rejection rather than active hatred

Antonyms
  • admire

    to regard with respect and warm approval, the opposite of looking down on someone

  • cherish

    to value and care for deeply, opposite of regarding as worthless

Grammar Patterns

despise + noun/pronoun

despise + noun/pronoun + for + noun/-ing form

Usage Note

Not used in progressive tenses (❌ ‘I am despising him’). Stronger and more emphatic than ‘dislike’ or ‘hate’, and carries a moral judgment that the object has no worth or value.

Common Mistakes

I despise spiders.
I hate spiders.
‘despise’ is too strong for common fears or mild dislikes; it implies a judgment about moral worth.
I am despising the noise from the street.
I despise the noise from the street.
‘despise’ is not used in progressive (continuous) tenses.

Word family

  • despised
    adjectiveB2
  • despicable
    adjectiveC1
  • despicably
    adverbC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

All four words describe strong negative feelings, but each emphasizes a different aspect. Despise combines hatred with a sense of worthlessness — you look down on the person or thing. Loathe focuses on visceral disgust or repulsion (for example, you loathe the smell of rotten food). Detest is a strong version of ‘hate’ without moral judgment (you might detest cold weather). Disdain implies a feeling of superiority rather than hatred (you disdain work you consider beneath you). Abhor is the strongest, suggesting deep moral revulsion (many people abhor cruelty to animals). In everyday conversation, hate is far more common than any of these; despise is used when you want to emphasize both hatred and contempt together.

loathedetest ↗disdainabhor

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • despise + [someone] for [doing something]
  • be despised by [group]

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchEnglish

From Old French despire, which came from Latin despicere, meaning ‘to look down on’. The Latin word is formed from de- (‘down’) and specere (‘to look’). This idea of looking down on someone from above has carried through to the modern meaning of deep contempt and hatred.