despicable

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɪˈspɪkəbəl/, /ˈdɛspɪkəbəl/

  • Audio (Southern England):

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  • Audio (New Jersey):

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Adjective

despicable (comparative more despicable, superlative most despicable)

1. Fit or deserving to be despised; contemptible; mean.

   Synonyms: vile, evil, mean, contemptible, obscene

   • 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 234:

     The physical penis is consumed by despicable fish, animals of the turgid depths, but the higher phallus, the image of resurrection through the goddess, is fashioned as a sacred icon.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:despicable

Antonyms

• honorable

Derived terms

• despicableness
• despicably

 

Translations

deserving to be despised

• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Basque: txarro
• Belarusian: нікчэ́мны (nikčémny)
• Bulgarian: презря́н (bg) (prezrján), жа́лък (bg) (žálǎk) (pathetic)
• Catalan: menyspreable (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 卑鄙 (zh) (bēibǐ), 卑劣 (zh) (bēiliè)

• Czech: opovrženíhodný (cs)
• Danish: foragtelig
• Dutch: verachtelijk (nl), verfoeilijk (nl), afschuwelijk (nl)
• Esperanto: aĉa (eo)
• Finnish: halveksittava, kurja (fi)
• French: abject (fr), détestable (fr), méprisable (fr)
• Galician: ruin, cativo (gl), gandalleiro, desprezabel, vedello, gorrovello, bafún
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: verachtenswert (de), gemein (de), niederträchtig (de), verabscheuungswürdig (de), widerwärtig (de), abscheulich (de), schnöde (de)
• Greek: αχρείος (el) m (achreíos), ποταπός (el) m (potapós), αχαρακτήριστος (el) m (acharaktíristos)
• Hungarian: megvetendő (hu), alávaló (hu)
• Indonesian: tercela (id), hina (id), keji (id)
• Italian: spregevole (it), abietto (it) m, disprezzabile (it)
• Japanese: 卑しい (ja) (iyashii), 汚い (ja) (kitanai), 卑劣な (ja) (hiretsu na)
• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• Latin: contemptus
• Latvian: zemisks
• Macedonian: пре́зирен (préziren)
• Maori: kiripiro, whakarihariha
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: avskyelig, foraktelig

• Persian: نفرت انگیز (fa) (nefrat-angiz)
• Plautdietsch: niedatrajchtich
• Polish: nikczemny (pl)
• Portuguese: desprezível (pt)
• Romanian: disprețuibil m, abject (ro) m
• Russian: презре́нный (ru) (prezrénnyj), жа́лкий (ru) (žálkij) (pathetic), никчёмный (ru) (nikčómnyj)
• Spanish: desdeñable (es), despreciable (es), bajo (es), rastrero, deleznable (es)
• Swedish: avskyvärd (sv)
• Ukrainian: нікче́мний (nikčémnyj)
• Vietnamese: đáng khinh (vi)

Noun

despicable (plural despicables)

1. A wretched or wicked person.
   • 2004, Wayne Campbell Kannaday, Apologetic Discourse and the Scribal Tradition:

     Robbers assemble other robbers for the purpose of robbery; but Christians gather thieves, bandits, and other despicables for the purpose of spiritual transformation.