execrable

adjective

ex·​e·​cra·​ble ˈek-si-krə-bəl 

1

: deserving to be execrated : detestable

execrable crimes

2

: very bad : wretched

execrable hotel food

execrableness noun

execrably

ˈek-si-krə-blē 

adverb

Did you know?

He or she who is cursed faces execrable conditions. Keep this in mind to remember that execrable is a descendant of the Latin verb exsecrari, meaning "to put under a curse." Since its earliest uses in English, beginning in the 14th century, execrable has meant "deserving or fit to be execrated," the reference being to things so abominable as to be worthy of formal denouncement (such as "execrable crimes"). But in the 19th century we lightened it up a bit, and our "indescribably bad" sense has since been applied to everything from roads ("execrable London pavement" - Sir Walter Scott) to food ("The coffee in the station house was ... execrable." - Clarence Day) to, inevitably, the weather ("the execrable weather of the past fortnight" - The (London) Evening Standard).

Synonyms

• atrocious
• awful
• dismal
• horrible
• lousy
• punk
• rotten
• sucky [slang]
• terrible
• wretched

Examples of execrable in a Sentence

Living conditions in the slums were execrable.

her execrable singing finally brought a complaint from the neighbors

Recent Examples on the Web

Both the Trump administration and Democratic Party presidential candidate Joe Biden have lambasted China for its execrable human rights record, which includes, among other brutalities, putting a million Uighur Muslims in concentration camps. —Elbridge Colby, Foreign Affairs, 4 Sep. 2020

The viral, execrable Willy Wonka Experience in Glasgow may have closed up shop, but it’s not forgotten. —Bethy Squires, Vulture, 7 Apr. 2024

In recent months, those online debates have grown coarse and self-righteous, thanks to an unfortunate lyrical shift towards fellating his own male id on Her Loss, his pathetically execrable collaboration from last year with 21 Savage. —Mosi Reeves, Rolling Stone, 6 Oct. 2023

The working conditions in those factories, often staffed by children, were execrable; the horror stories that emerged, of mangled limbs and bodies, eventually helped encourage reform. —Kyle Chayka, The New Yorker, 26 Sep. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

execrable

adjective

ex·​e·​cra·​ble ˈek-si-krə-bəl 

: very bad

living conditions in the slums were execrable

execrableness noun

execrably

-blē 

adverb