abhorrence

American  

[ab-hawr-uhns, -hor-] / æbˈhɔr əns, -ˈhɒr- /

noun

1. a feeling of extreme repugnance or aversion; utter loathing; abomination.

   Synonyms:

   detestation, execration

2. something or someone extremely repugnant or loathsome.

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abhorrence British  

/ əbˈhɒrəns /

noun

1. a feeling of extreme loathing or aversion

2. a person or thing that is loathsome

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Other Word Forms

• self-abhorrence noun

Etymology

Origin of abhorrence

First recorded in 1650–60; abhorr(ent) + -ence

Explanation

Abhorrence is a feeling of hate and disgust. If you have an abhorrence of violence, you probably won't want to watch "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre." The Latin ancestor of abhorrence isn't all that different from today's word or its meaning — it comes from abhorrēre, which means "to shrink back from," and it became synonymous with loathing in the early 17th century. Note the similarity to the word horror — a good way to remember the word's meaning. The Polish physicist Joseph Rotblat knew the power of the word when he used it to refer to the "widespread instinctive abhorrence of nuclear weapons.”

Example Sentences

The gingery hero of “Bookish” has an abhorrence of murder.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 8, 2026

It had everything to do with the public’s interest in the news and the First Amendment’s abhorrence of prior restraints.

From Slate • May 21, 2024

In general, we can say that police harbor a kind of natural abhorrence of protest because it's disorderly and policing is about the production of social order.

From Salon • May 14, 2024

The vote confounded critics of O'Connor, who had previously expressed her personal abhorrence of abortion.

From BBC • Dec. 1, 2023

To Pascal, this seemingly bizarre behavior proved that it wasn’t an abhorrence of the vacuum that drove the mercury up the tube.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife