✅ Detest and abhor both mean to have a deep dislike, hatred, or horror of something or someone.
✅ Detest also involves disdain (I detest bucket hats), while abhor describes a strong sense of horror and rejection (I abhor lying).
✅ Detest focuses on the sense of hatred, whereas abhor suggests that the thing offends your morals (He detested bullies; She abhorred needless waste).
✅ Inanimate things and concepts can be said to abhor something, meaning that the thing or action is incredibly unlikely, or even impossible (Nature abhors a vacuum).
It’ll be difficult to detest these superb synonyms for abhor!
✅ State and status both refer to a current situation, circumstances, or surroundings (the state of affairs; the status of the rockets).
✅ State is a more general word, though, referring to the general condition of something (The state of diplomatic relations).
✅ Status often has legal or official implications, and is used to describe a complete set of circumstances for the purpose of sharing information (socioeconomic status; marital status).
✅ Status also can reference an update in the progress of someone or something (We were texted updates on the status of our delivery).
Understand the state of your vocabulary with these synonyms for status.
✅ Prevailing is the best word to describe something that has ‘won’ or superceded other similar things in becoming current and common (the prevailing mood; the prevailing opinion).
✅ Prevalent is the best word to describe something that has spread widely and is now current and common (Coffee shops are prevalent).
✅ Something that is prevailing might have become, or might be becoming, prevalent. However, prevailing implies an element of competition that isn’t present in prevalent (The prevailing political system throughout U.S. history has been the two-party system).
✅ Prevalent deemphasizes the element of competition, or suggests that competition was in the past (High-waisted jeans are now prevalent).
Try using prevalent in a paragraph describing current trends, with the help of Grammar Coach.