Weekly Word: Odious
Something that’s odious is “hateful”, “disgusting”, or “highly offensive”.
It comes from odium, a noun meaning “intense hatred” or the “quality of being hated”. The word odium goes all the way back to Latin, as in the phrase odium theologicum:
The Latin phrase Odium theologicum, literally meaning “theological hatred”, is the name originally given to the often intense anger and hatred generated by disputes over theology. It has also been adopted to describe non-theological disputes of a rancorous nature. (Wikipedia)
Reading about this word made me realize just how many types of hatred we’ve defined. On the bright side, though, we probably have even more words for different types of love.
June 27th, 2007
I’m looking for the “fair and balanced” coverage of the positive side
July 23rd, 2007
I’ve always liked the word “odious.” It sounds like what it means. If somebody uses that word on you, you know it’s bad, even if you don’t know what the word means.
July 23rd, 2007
Very true! My first thought was that it sounds like a really fancy word for “stinky”.
October 17th, 2007
[…] similar word I learned not too long ago is odious, which means “hateful”. It also originates from French, but while enmity comes from the […]