Despises

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To hold a deep-seated contempt or aversion for a person or thing that invokes strong negative feelings
2. To possess a fierce loathing or disdain towards someone or something that causes a strong emotional reaction
3. To regard someone or something with intense dislike or disrespect

Etymology: "Despises" is the third-person singular present form of "despise," so the story belongs to the verb itself. The verb came into Middle English from Old French "despire," which descended from Latin "despicere," meaning "to look down upon." Its parts are "de-," meaning "down," and "specere," "to look at," so the original picture is literal: someone looking downward at a thing from a height. That physical gesture is what gives the word its contempt. To look down on someone is to place them beneath you, and the Latin verb carried that spatial sense into moral judgment. English once had its own word for the same idea, "forsēon" in Old English, which meant roughly "to look past or neglect." Middle English borrowing from French pushed that native word aside, so the verb we now use descends from a Latin image of looking downward.

Synonyms: disdains, loathes, hates, detests, abominates

Antonyms: adores, loves, cherishes, respects, values