Choosing Your Words Carefully

Today I want to look at language, and specifically the use of certain words. In this case—given the climate of hatred spewing out all over the place, I’m focusing in on the word, despise [verb] : to feel contempt or a deep repugnance for, as in : he despised himself for voting for Trump.

As writers, choosing the right word is important:

It’s one thing to dislike someone; it’s quite another to despise or detest the person. Both are strong words, used to describe extreme dislike or hatred.

Detest is probably the purest expression of hatred (: she detested the woman who had raised her, and longed to find her own mother), while despise suggests looking down with great contempt and regarding the person as mean, petty, weak, or worthless (she despised men whose only concern was their own safety).

Disdain carries even stronger connotations of superiority, often combined with self-righteousness (: to disdain anyone lacking a college education).

Scorn is a stronger word for disdain, and it implies an attitude of not only contempt but of haughty rejection or refusal (: to scorn the man she’d once loved).

To loathe something is to feel utter disgust toward it (: she grew to loathe peanut butter and jelly sandwiches) and to abhor it is to feel a profound, shuddering, repugnance (: she abhorred the very idea of asking for the money).

Contemn is a more literary word meaning to treat with disdain, scorn, or contempt.

Now you can accurately describe how much you detest, despise, hate, scorn, loathe, disdain and feel contempt for … whomever!