detest
verb
Simple meaning
Dislike intensely; feel antipathy or aversion towards.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
dihtehstSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
dɪˈtɛst
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
Dislike intensely; feel antipathy or aversion towards
transitive
To dislike (someone or something) intensely; to loathe.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Rare
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Dislike intensely; feel antipathy or aversion towards
In this sense, detest is a very strong, expressive word and expresses hatred outright, which is much stronger than dislike.
- Emotional tone
- Strongly negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Very strong
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Strongly negative / painful
- Usage feel
- Blunt and forceful
Where it naturally appears
- Personal/emotional discussion
- Literature/storytelling
Usage note
Detest is emotionally heavy: it suggests deep or lasting feeling, not a passing mood, so it can overstate a small reaction.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
Share your sentence
Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “detest” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.