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Humans have contrasted love with hate and good with evil for eons, putting love and good on one side and hate and evil on the other. The etymology of heinous reflects the association of hate with that which is evil or horrible. During the 14th century, English borrowed heinous from the Anglo-French haine (meaning "hate"), a noun derived from hair ("to hate"), a verb of Germanic origin that is related, like the English word hate, to the Old High German haz ("hate"). Over time English speakers came to use the word to reflect the sense of horror evoked by intense hatred.
Examples of heinous in a Sentence
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'heinous.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Heinous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/heinous. Accessed 30 Oct. 2024.
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heinous
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heinous
adjectiveMore from Merriam-Webster on heinous
Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for heinous
Nglish: Translation of heinous for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of heinous for Arabic Speakers
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