execrate

[ ek-si-kreyt ]

verb (used with object)

, ex·e·crat·ed, ex·e·crat·ing.

1. to detest utterly; abhor; abominate.
2. to curse; imprecate evil upon; damn; denounce:

   He execrated all who opposed him.

verb (used without object)

, ex·e·crat·ed, ex·e·crat·ing.

1. to utter curses.

execrate

/ ˈɛksɪˌkreɪt /

verb

1. tr to loathe; detest; abhor
2. tr to profess great abhorrence for; denounce; deplore
3. to curse (a person or thing); damn

Derived Forms

• ˈexeˌcratively, adverb
• ˈexeˌcrative, adjective
• ˌexeˈcration, noun

Other Words From

• exe·crator noun
• un·exe·crated adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of execrate¹

1555–65; < Latin ex ( s ) ecrātus (past participle of ex ( s ) ecrārī to curse), equivalent to ex- ex- ¹ + secr- (combining form of sacrāre to consecrate; sacrament ) + -ātus -ate ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of execrate¹

C16: from Latin exsecrārī to curse, from ex- ¹+ -secrārī from sacer sacred

Example Sentences

Many Democrats striving to replace President Trump are, while execrating him, paying him the sincerest form of flattery: imitation.

From Washington Post

And of the fact that the president has repeatedly execrated the invasion of Iraq that Bolton advocated.

From Washington Post

This man they’d execrated and denounced had shocked the world—not just by being his shocking self but by winning; nobody expected him to win!—and yet from them this evoked no reaction.

From The New Yorker

Though the Democrats’ advantage over the GOP in voter identification is not particularly large — eight points, according to Gallup — 24 percent of Americans now accept the no-longer execrated label “liberal,” up seven points since 1992.

From Washington Post

They properly execrate Obama’s executive high-handedness that expresses progressivism’s traditional disdain for the separation of powers that often makes government action difficult.

From Washington Post