Definition of abject
Etymology
From Latin abiectus, past participle of abicere ("to reject"), formed from ab- + iacere ("to throw").
Pronunciation
- enPR: ăbʹjĕkt, IPA: /ˈæbdʒɛkt/, SAMPA: /"{bdZEkt/ or enPR: ăbʹjĭkt, IPA: /ˈæbdʒɪkt/, SAMPA: /"{bdZIkt/
- Rhymes: -ɛkt
- Audio (UK) [?]
Adjective
abject (comparative abjecter or more abject, superlative abjectest or most abject)
- Sunk to a low condition; down in spirit or hope; degraded; servile; grovelling; despicable; as, abject posture, fortune, thoughts.
"Base and abject flatterers." - Joseph Addison
"An abject liar." - Thomas Babington Macaulay
"And banish hence these abject, lowly dreams." - Shakespeare, Taming of the Shrew, I-ii
"He sat obediently with that tentative and abject eagerness of a man who has but one pleasure left and whom the world can reach only through one sense, for he was both blind and deaf." - 1931 Faulkner, Sanctuary, ii
- (obsolete) Cast down; rejected; low-lying.
"So thick bestrown abject and lost lay these, covering the flood." - John Milton
Synonyms
- beggarly, contemptible, cringing, degraded, groveling, ignoble, mean, mean-spirited, slavish, vile, worthless
Related terms
References:
- Wiktionary. Published under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
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