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> To detest is to speak out against Interesting. I've never heard this use. The definitions I've seen of detest are some form of dislike intensely. Reviewing
by grzm 9y ago
> To detest is to speak out against
Interesting. I've never heard this use. The definitions I've seen of detest are some form of dislike intensely.
Reviewing Merriam-Webster[0], I see there is an obsolete sense of detest that means to curse.
> 1 : to feel intense and often violent antipathy toward : loathe · detests politics · They seem to truly detest each other.
> 2 obsolete : curse, denounce
I can't recall ever having across across the word used in this way in American English. I've only seen the first sense used, and would have interpret someone saying "despise and detest" to be effectively doubling (redundantly) for emphasis, not to distinguish between the two.
[0]: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/detest https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/detest
- rainbowmverse 9y agoAn American dictionary in 2017 might reflect different meanings than a British person in the '50s and earlier used.
- umanwizard 9y agoOED should have citations for these purported meanings, if they exist. Does anyone have access (perhaps through a university library) and can check?