Synonyms for despicable
- adjective
Most common
All synonyms
Adjective
1. Vile
vile, contemptible, wretched, reprehensible, unworthy, worthless, disgraceful, loathsome, shameful, pitiful, sordid, detestable, pathetic, deplorable, odious, miserable, ugly, dirty, outrageous, mean-spirited, ignominious, evil
Other
reptile, despisable dated
Definitions
- adj. 1
Fit or deserving to be despised; contemptible; mean.
Choose the right word
Despicable is stronger than contemptible, as despise is stronger than contemn. A man is despicable chiefly for low actions which mark his life, such as servility, baseness, or mean adulation.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Example sentences
- shameful The love that I suffer from is a shameful disease.
- disgraceful They abandoned us in the most disgraceful manner.
- pitiful The pitiful tale fetched tears from the girl.
- unworthy Boris deemed Melissa unworthy of such a responsibility.
- reptile Smite his hard heart, and shake his reptile soul.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| despicable | rising | |
| shameful | rising | |
| disgraceful | steady | |
| pitiful | rising | |
| unworthy | steady | |
| reptile | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- evil2, ugly2, vile1
- 5 letters
- dirty2
- 6 letters
- sordid2, odious3
- 7 letters
- pitiful3, reptile2
- 8 letters
- pathetic3, shameful2, wretched2, unworthy3
- 9 letters
- miserable4, worthless2, loathsome2
- 10 letters
- outrageous3, deplorable4, detestable, despisable
- 11 letters
- disgraceful3, ignominious5
- 12 letters
- contemptible4
- 13 letters
- reprehensible5
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (evil2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- méprisable
- Italiano
- spregevole
- Español
- despreciable