Meaning & use
abomination
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Meanings
nouncountable
Something that causes intense disgust or hatred, often because it is considered morally or religiously wrong.
Grammar: Countable; typically used with an and often introduced by verbs like call or consider: they called it an abomination.
Patterns
- an abomination to someone
- call something an abomination
- consider something an abomination
The protesters called the destruction of the forest an abomination.
To him, any form of cheating was an abomination.
noununcountableliteraryrare
A strong feeling of disgust and hatred toward something; loathing.
Grammar: No plural; survives mainly in the fixed phrase hold something in abomination, unlike the countable thing-sense.
Patterns
- hold something in abomination
The reformers held the corrupt practice in abomination.
She came to view the empty ritual with abomination.
Word forms
| plural | abominations |
|---|
Common combinations
- an abomination to someone
- The pollution of the river was an abomination to everyone who lived nearby.
- call something an abomination
- Editorials called the new law an abomination of justice.
- an absolute abomination
- The reviewers described the film as an absolute abomination.
- hold something in abomination
- Traditional leaders held the dishonest custom in abomination.
Synonyms and how they differ
- outrage
- Outrage emphasizes something that shocks and offends public feeling; abomination adds a stronger sense of moral or religious disgust.
- atrocity
- Atrocity is used for a specific shockingly cruel act, such as a massacre; abomination can describe any deeply hated thing or practice.
- disgrace
- Disgrace focuses on shame and loss of respect; abomination focuses on disgust and hatred rather than shame.
Opposites
Word family
- abominable adjective
- Causing moral disgust; extremely unpleasant.
- abominate verb
- To hate or detest something strongly, mainly in formal use.
- abominably adverb
- In an abominable manner: The hotel was abominably run.
Commonly confused: abomination or obliteration?
abomination vs obliteration
Obliteration is the complete destruction or removal of something; the words sound and look similar but have different meanings.
Practice
After the scandal, the senator called the whole scheme 'a moral ______.'
Choose one answer.
The sentence needs a noun naming something hated, so the countable noun abomination fits. Abolition is a noun but means the ending of a system, while abominate (verb) and abominably (adverb) are the wrong word classes here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “abomination”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.