despicable

From Late Latin dēspicābilis, from Latin dēspicor, a variant of dēspiciō (“I despise”), from de (“down”) + speciō (“I look at, behold”). First attested in the 1550s.^[1] Equivalent to despise +‎ -able.

• IPA^(key): /dɪˈspɪkəbəl/, /ˈdɛspɪkəbəl/

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despicable (comparative more despicable, superlative most despicable)

1. Fit or deserving to be despised; contemptible; mean.

   Synonyms: vile, evil, mean, contemptible, obscene

   • 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 234:

     The physical penis is consumed by despicable fish, animals of the turgid depths, but the higher phallus, the image of resurrection through the goddess, is fashioned as a sacred icon.

• See also Thesaurus:despicable

• honorable

despicable (plural despicables)

1. A wretched or wicked person.
   • 2004, Wayne Campbell Kannaday, Apologetic Discourse and the Scribal Tradition:

     Robbers assemble other robbers for the purpose of robbery; but Christians gather thieves, bandits, and other despicables for the purpose of spiritual transformation.