Etymologically
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despicable

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 12:59. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • /dɪˈspɪkəbəl/, /ˈdɛspɪkəbəl/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin dēspicābilis (“contemptible”),[2][3][4][5][6][7] from Latin dēspicor (“to look down on, despise”),[2][3][4][8] with -ābilis (“-able”).[4][9] The Latin verb is related to dēspiciō (“to look down on”),[3][2][7] the source of despise,[2] formed from dē- (“down”) and speciō (“to look at”),[3][7][9] from Proto-Indo-European *spek- (“to observe”).[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Deserving to be looked down on; vile, base, contemptible: 1553, in Richard Eden's translation of Münster's Treatyse of Newe India.[6][2][4]

Semantic evolution

The sense has hardly changed since the 16th century.[6][10] Two others died out: "miserable, wretched" (1635–1704) and, with the Latin verb's active meaning, "showing contempt, contemptuous" (1662–1775).[6][10] Johnson (1755) defined it as "contemptible; vile; mean; sordid; worthless", and noted that it was used of persons and things alike.[11]

Timeline

  • 1553 – deserving contempt; vile.[6][2][4]
  • 1635 – miserable, wretched (obsolete by 1704).[6]
  • 1662 – contemptuous (obsolete by 1775).[6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Deserving to be despised; contemptible, vile or mean: a despicable betrayal of a friend.[12][4][6]

Word family

  • despicableness
  • despicably
  • despicability

Usage notes

The stress may fall on the second syllable or on the first: Merriam-Webster gives the second as usual and the first as a variant,[4] Collins gives both,[12] and the OED's British pronunciation stresses the first.[6]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  10. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  12. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins