different between abhorrent vs unspeakable

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin abhorr?ns, abhorr?ntis, present active participle of abhorre? (“abhor”). Equivalent to abhor +? -ent.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /æb?(h)??.?nt/, /?b?(h)??.?nt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /æb?h??.?nt/, /æb?h??.?nt/

Adjective

abhorrent (comparative more abhorrent, superlative most abhorrent)

1. (archaic) Inconsistent with, or far removed from, something; strongly opposed [Late 16^th century.]
2. Contrary to something; discordant. [Mid 17^th century.]
3. Abhorring; detesting; having or showing abhorrence; loathing. [Mid 18^th century.]
4. Detestable or repugnant. [Early 19^th century.]

Usage notes

• Nouns to which abhorrent is often applied: behavior, act, crime, practice, thing.
• (opposed): abhorrent is typically followed by from.
• (contrary): abhorrent is followed by to.

Related terms

Translations

References

Further reading

• abhorrent in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• abhorrent in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• abhorrent at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• earthborn

French

Verb

abhorrent

1. third-person plural present indicative of abhorrer
2. third-person plural present subjunctive of abhorrer

Latin

Verb

abhorrent

1. third-person plural present active indicative of abhorre?

English

Etymology

From Middle English unspekable, equivalent to un- +? speakable.

Pronunciation

Adjective

unspeakable (comparative more unspeakable, superlative most unspeakable)

1. Incapable of being spoken or uttered

   Synonyms: unutterable, ineffable, inexpressible

   • 1855-1882, Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, book xv,

     The endless pride and outstretching of man, unspeakable joys and sorrows.

2. Unfit or not permitted to be spoken or described.
   • 1916, James Joyce, A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man, ch. 3,

     The miser will remember his hoard of gold, the robber his ill-gotten wealth, the angry and revengeful and merciless murderers their deeds of blood and violence in which they revelled, the impure and adulterous the unspeakable and filthy pleasures in which they delighted.

3. Extremely bad or objectionable.

   an unspeakable fool

   an unspeakable play

   • 1926, H.P. Lovecraft, The Outsider,

     Yet to my horror I saw in its eaten-away and bone-revealing outlines a leering, abhorrent travesty on the human shape; and in its mouldy, disintegrating apparel an unspeakable quality that chilled me even more.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:indescribable

Derived terms

• unspeakably
• unspeakableness

Translations

References

• unspeakable in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• “unspeakable” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• "unspeakable" in the Wordsmyth Dictionary-Thesaurus (Wordsmyth, 2002)
• "unspeakable" in Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary (Cambridge University Press, 2007)
• “unspeakable”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.
• "unspeakable" at Rhymezone (Datamuse, 2006).
• Oxford English Dictionary, second edition (1989)

Scots

Etymology

un- +? speak +? -able

Adjective

unspeakable (comparative mair unspeakable, superlative maist unspeakable)

1. unspeakable