Definition of "detestable" []

• Inspiring or deserving abhorrence or scorn. See Synonyms at hateful. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Her engagement at the luncheon-bar he spoke of as a detestable slavery, which had wasted her health and driven her in the end to an act of desperation."
• "That's odd, because I think the word detestable in that verse is the same as the one in Leviticus 18: 22"
• "But the ad misleadingly omits Mr. Obama's having called Mr. Ayers 'conduct back then "detestable" -- and I agree with that."