hateful

[ heyt-fuhl ]

adjective

1. arousing hate or deserving to be hated:

   the hateful oppression of dictators.

   Synonyms: loathsome, invidious, repugnant, abhorrent, execrable, abominable

   Antonyms: commendable, praiseworthy, agreeable, likable

2. unpleasant; dislikable; distasteful:

   She found her domestic chores hateful.

3. full of or expressing hate malignant; malevolent:

   a hateful denunciatory speech.

hateful

/ ˈheɪtfʊl /

adjective

1. causing or deserving hate; loathsome; detestable
2. full of or showing hate

Derived Forms

• ˈhatefulness, noun
• ˈhatefully, adverb

Other Words From

• hateful·ly adverb
• hateful·ness noun
• un·hateful adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of hateful¹

Middle English word dating back to 1300–50; hate, -ful

Synonym Study

Hateful, obnoxious, odious, offensive refer to something that causes strong dislike or annoyance. Hateful implies actually causing hatred or extremely strong dislike: The sight of him is hateful to me. Obnoxious emphasizes causing annoyance or discomfort by objectionable qualities: His persistence made him seem obnoxious. His piggish manners made him obnoxious to his companions. Odious emphasizes the disagreeable or displeasing: an odious little man; odious servility. Offensive emphasizes the distaste and resentment caused by something that may be either displeasing or insulting: an offensive odor, remark.

Example Sentences

"Chelsea Football Club is aware of recent unacceptable and hateful homophobic comments published across various social media platforms," the club said.

From BBC

“It’s disappointing that this school would deny their students the opportunity to grow and learn together and instead embrace the divisive and hateful rhetoric of extremists like Donald Trump,” Hoang said in a statement.

From Los Angeles Times

People heard these hateful things and yet don’t believe that the man who is making these threats will actually carry them out.

From Los Angeles Times

Teacher Bella Ivory said she felt scared when rallying students shouted hateful curse words outside the classroom where she was helping facilitate a Black Student Union meeting last week.

From Los Angeles Times

That flash point foretells an America becoming more polarized the hotter things get, more sharply divided between its rural and urban communities and more hateful and more dangerous.

From Salon

Related Words

• abhorrent
• bitter
• despicable
• disgusting
• heinous
• odious
• ornery
• repulsive
• spiteful
• vicious
• vile