as in vile
not following or in accordance with standards of honor and decency
the detestable actions of a nasty little man
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Recent Examples of detestable
Remember Paul Reiser's detestable Carter Burke in Aliens?
—
Randall Colburn, EW.com, 24 Apr. 2025
Top-notch casting is the cherry on top, with Lily James as the supremely likable Cinderella, Richard Madden as her down-to-earth prince, Cate Blanchett as the detestable stepmother with her own imperfect backstory, and Helena Bonham Carter as one lovably flighty fairy godmother.
—Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 22 Mar. 2025
Can’t wait for the Stanley Cup window to close on Team Tank, easily the most detestable team in the League.
—Daniel Nugent-Bowman, The Athletic, 15 Mar. 2025
Overall, the film has gotten a mixed reception, and Strong’s character is pretty detestable.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 20 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for detestable
Randall Colburn, EW.com, 24 Apr. 2025
Top-notch casting is the cherry on top, with Lily James as the supremely likable Cinderella, Richard Madden as her down-to-earth prince, Cate Blanchett as the detestable stepmother with her own imperfect backstory, and Helena Bonham Carter as one lovably flighty fairy godmother.
—Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 22 Mar. 2025
Can’t wait for the Stanley Cup window to close on Team Tank, easily the most detestable team in the League.
—Daniel Nugent-Bowman, The Athletic, 15 Mar. 2025
Overall, the film has gotten a mixed reception, and Strong’s character is pretty detestable.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 20 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for detestable
Recent Examples of Synonyms for detestable
Adjective
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What's more, monsters like Alex Jones, the vile conspiracy theorist, claimed the shooting never happened and that the families of the victims were actors.—
Bill Goodykoontz,
AZCentral.com,
29 Aug. 2025
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This treatment is vile and an affront to our Constitution and our principles of equal protection under the law.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
17 July 2025
Adjective
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This country already has very limited ability to stop the Republicans’ attempt to end democracy in the United States mostly due to their immoral actions on the Supreme Court nominations of Obama and Biden.—
U T Readers,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
24 Aug. 2025
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Rudy flames out on his first day, though, and ends up working for a shady lawyer named Bruiser (Lana Parrilla) and her gleefully immoral paralegal Deck (P.J. Byrne).—
Dave Nemetz,
TVLine,
12 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Cleaning your garbage can is dirty work, but regular scrubbing will keep odors at bay and bugs away.—
Cody Godwin,
USA Today,
24 Aug. 2025
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From dirty pets to messy kids to kitchen mishaps, hardwood floors can take a daily beating.—
Karen Brewer Grossman,
Southern Living,
22 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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For most people who contract the virus, symptoms resemble those of a nasty cold and include a runny nose, aches, sore throat, congestion and maybe a fever.—
Beth Warren,
The Tennessean,
23 Aug. 2025
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The 37-year-old plays Emilia Harcourt, an agent from the lack ops squad, A.R.G.U.S., who immediately shows off her skills in the season 2 premiere episode beating up men three times her size in a nasty bar brawl.—
Colleen Kratofil,
People.com,
22 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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As Wallace and Gromit investigate this mysterious thief, their paths cross with the cruel, trigger-happy Lord Victor Quartermaine (Ralph Fiennes), who has his own ambitions for the competition and Wallace’s love interest, Lady Tottington (Helena Bonham Carter).—
Travis Bean,
Forbes.com,
22 Aug. 2025
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The series centers on a group of kids with latent or emerging special abilities who are subjected to cruel experiments at the mysterious institute of the title, along with a local cop (Ben Barnes) whose story intersects with that of the kids.—
Rick Porter,
HollywoodReporter,
22 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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The death of Pope Francis, sadly, has not escaped the attention of these truly contemptible criminals.—
Davey Winder,
Forbes.com,
24 Apr. 2025
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At the time, some of LeBron’s critics saw this as contemptible.—
Ross Andersen,
The Atlantic,
16 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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That Hamas is so despicable or dangerous that its destruction is worth brutality.—
Seth Lavin,
Chicago Tribune,
6 Aug. 2025
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White House condemns 'despicable' comments from lawmakers at anti-US conference.—
,
FOXNews.com,
5 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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The unique stipulation is the direct result of King's recent, vicious actions against his rival, Myles Borne.—
Andrew Ravens,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 Aug. 2025
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That the show is a food-star factory is not exactly in the spirit of the bake-offs that inspired it, which were vicious routs among just-above-average home bakers, for almost no measurable reward.—
Ruby Tandoh,
New Yorker,
25 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Detestable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/detestable. Accessed 3 Sep. 2025.
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