different between execrable vs unmentionable

English

Etymology

From Old French execrable, from Latin execrabilis.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /??ks?k??bl/, /??ks?k??bl/, /??ksk??bl/

Adjective

execrable (comparative more execrable, superlative most execrable)

1. Of the poorest quality.
2. Hateful.
   • 1779, Jefferson, letter to Patrick Henry written on March 27

     But is an enemy so execrable, that, though in captivity, his wishes and comforts are to be disregarded and even crossed? I think not. It is for the benefit of mankind to mitigate the horrors of war as much as possible.

Usage notes

• Nouns to which "execrable" is often applied: taste, road, crime, murder, thing.

Synonyms

Related terms

• execrableness
• execrably
• execration
• execrate

Translations

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin execr?bilis.

Adjective

execrable (plural execrables)

1. execrable

English

Etymology

un- +? mentionable

Adjective

unmentionable (comparative more unmentionable, superlative most unmentionable)

1. Not mentionable

Derived terms

• unmentionables
• unmentionably

Translations

Noun

unmentionable (plural unmentionables)

1. Something not to be discussed in polite society.
   • 1995, Virginia Schroeder Burnham, William H. Hampton, Since Time Began (page 43)

     He was taught from childhood that the world does not condone homosexuality and that it is an unmentionable of decent people.

   • 2014, Andrew Hodges, Alan Turing: The Enigma (page 100)

     Here, after all, was the circle round which Forster passed the manuscript of his novel Maurice which conveyed so much about being 'an unmentionable of the Oscar Wilde sort'.