Word of the Day

: August 9, 2021

abject

adjective AB-jekt

What It Means

1 : sunk to or existing in a low state or condition : very bad or severe

2 a : cast down in spirit : servile, spiritless

b : showing hopelessness or resignation

3 : expressing or offered in a humble and often ingratiating spirit

abject in Context

The youth offered an abject apology for his misdeed.

"We tend not to dwell on the provenance of cheap gizmos. Periodically, we're moved to outrage, even boycott, by revelations of the abject conditions in which certain items are produced; then we move on." — Stephen Phillips, Datebook (The San Francisco Chronicle), 26 Jan. 2021

Did You Know?

Abject comes from the Latin abjectus (meaning "downcast," "humble," or "sordid"), the past participle of the Latin verb abicere, meaning "to cast off." Its original meaning in English was "cast off" or "rejected," but it is now used to refer more broadly to things in a low state or condition. Abject shares with mean, ignoble, and sordid the sense of being below the normal standards of human decency and dignity.