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Definitions

detest

[dih-test] / dɪˈtɛst /


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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“To know my father was to love him. To know him was to detest and dislike him, as well,” his daughter Marjorie Shreiber Roshkoff said at his funeral.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026

People detest her and Prince Harry for stepping back from their royal duties and even more so for going public about what life was like for them.

From Salon ● Mar. 5, 2025

Carey shares that he used to detest wealthy people, before laughing and noting the irony — his career has made him rich.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 26, 2025

Not only do the Fremen detest colonizers mining their planet for spice and often attack them, the mining operation is also a dangerous activity in and of itself.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 27, 2024

“I detest American television,” Moushumi eventually declares to everyone’s delight, then wanders into the hallway to continue her reading.

From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri

She said she detests the shift toward app and kiosk ordering at locations in her area.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

He values skill, graciousness, and intellect and detests wanton corruption — especially when it touches him or someone he cares about.

From Salon ● Feb. 20, 2025

Beijing detests Lai, whom it believes is a separatist.

From Reuters ● Oct. 23, 2023

Those who know him well say he detests opposition.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2023

“The whale abhors chaos; the squid detests order. Is this ship not the bastard child of both?”

From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman

Lai, who was elected president in January 2024, has been an outspoken defender of Taiwan's sovereignty and is detested by Chinese leaders.

From Barron's ● Oct. 5, 2026

She detested the East Coast avatars of apocalypse, like Nathanael West, who saw only doom and gloom in sunny L.A.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026

Alberto Fujimori was a political outsider who won power in 1990 by sweeping up support among Peru’s poor masses who detested the establishment.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026

His father, Kenneth, was a conscientious objector who detested social injustice, nuclear weapons and smoking in equal measure.

From BBC ● Jun. 12, 2026

As much as I detested myself for it, I heard pleading in my voice.

From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam

“I’ve always had this sort of magical-thinking way of detesting my previous books as a way of pushing myself forward,” she told the Washington Square Review in 2015.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 13, 2023

Also detesting the invasion is Maria Yumasheva, the 19-year-old daughter of Russian real estate developer Valentin Yumashev and his wife Tatyana Borisovna.

From Fox News ● Mar. 5, 2022

A reader called me out on it, saying that there’s a difference between disagreeing with a position and detesting a person.

From New York Times ● Jun. 17, 2021

Fearing the power of the Huguenots and detesting their faith, the Guises created the Catholic League, an armed militia of Catholics that included armed monks, townsfolk, and soldiers.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2020

But we are one in detesting their oppressor, the smug-wump, Carnegie.

From The Letters of Ambrose Bierce With a Memoir by George Sterling by Ambrose Bierce


Vocabulary lists containing detest

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