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abject

abject

11 8.4
Very shameful and deserving strong dislike
  • adjective
  • /ˈæbʤɛkt/
  • Formal
translation icon : vergonzoso
  • But foreign aid has been an abject failure, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, which received the largest per-capita share.
  • an abject failure

And now years of open abject hatred of whites.

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Examples

  • I believe he has accomplished amazing things in the face of abject obstruction from the other party.

    Blog text (26)
  • The report highlighted the community's abject conditions, prompting urgent calls for assistance.

  • - It's an abject failure.

  • Somehow this treatment was an abject failure.

  • OK, so the thing was an absolute abject failure.

  • In all other things, I have been, let's confess, an abject failure.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • Bihar represents the challenge of development, abject poverty surrounded by corruption.

  • Instances where the best of intentions go horribly, horribly wrong and result in abject failure.

  • At the other end lie the abject failures, including Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Somalia.

    Academic text (2005)
  • The charity aims to alleviate the abject poverty experienced by many families in the region.

Synonyms

awful
vsabject
1.0

Very bad or unpleasant and causing dislike

is stronger and more moral naming the most contemptible and degrading cases
low
vsabject
260 1.3

Having little social rank or importance

points to a far worse degrading extreme rather than mere poor status
miserable
vsabject
  • Offensive
116 3.7

A person who is very mean and deserves to be disliked

describes an extreme degrading condition rather than personal meanness
abominable
vsabject
24 7.2

Very bad or morally wrong so people strongly dislike it

is the deepest kind of degrading situation deserving harsh disgust
abhorrent
vsabject
23 7.7

Causing strong dislike or disgust because people see it as morally wrong

describes the worst degrading state that deserves strong disapproval
scurvy
vsabject
  • Offensive
9 8.9

Very bad or mean and deserving strong dislike

applies to the worst degrading cases not only contemptible acts
low-down
vsabject
  • Offensive
8 7.4

Very mean or dishonest in a way people dislike

focuses on the superlative degrading quality rather than general moral badness
scummy
vsabject
  • Offensive
6 8.0

Very dishonest or cruel in a way that makes people feel disgusted

is the formal description of the most contemptible or degrading kind

Antonyms

87 3.3

Having good qualities that make people respect you

laudable
  • Formal
12 7.2

Worthy of praise for doing something good

How Contemptible

abject
  • Formal
11 8.4
contemptible
  • Offensive
15 7.4
reprehensible
  • Formal
50 7.9
bad
12 4.9
unpleasant
215 1.0

Surface Forms

abject positive

Etymology

Abject comes from the Latin parts ab- ('away') and jacere ('to throw'), suggesting someone or something pushed to the lowest, most shameful position. That's why abject can describe behavior that is very low, shameful, or deeply humiliating.