abject

[ ab-jekt, ab-jekt ]
See synonyms for abject on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. utterly hopeless, miserable, humiliating, or wretched: abject poverty.

  2. contemptible; despicable; base-spirited: an abject coward.

  1. shamelessly servile; slavish.

  2. Obsolete. cast aside.

Origin of abject

1
1400–50; late Middle English <Latin abjectus thrown down (past participle of abicere, abjicere), equivalent to ab-ab- + -jec- throw + -tus past participle suffix

Other words for abject

Opposites for abject

Other words from abject

  • ab·ject·ly, adverb
  • ab·ject·ness, ab·ject·ed·ness, noun
  • un·ab·ject, adjective
  • un·ab·ject·ly, adverb
  • un·ab·ject·ness, noun

Words that may be confused with abject

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use abject in a sentence

  • So shall you compass the glory of the whole world, and divest yourself of the abjectness of humanity.

    Witch, Warlock, and Magician | William Henry Davenport Adams
  • She fought against it, but the thought of Ditmar reduced to abjectness gained ground.

  • Nervous and cowed to abjectness as she was, she felt near the end of her endurance.

    Beggars on Horseback | F. Tennyson Jesse
  • The wretched cur, before I could conclude, was on his knees begging for mercy with disgusting abjectness.

    Recollections of a Policeman | William Russell (aka Thomas Waters)
  • Then, as she leaned, the abjectness of her own position seemed suddenly borne in upon her.

    Tante | Anne Douglas Sedgwick

British Dictionary definitions for abject

abject

/ (ˈæbdʒɛkt) /


adjective
  1. utterly wretched or hopeless

  2. miserable; forlorn; dejected

  1. indicating humiliation; submissive: an abject apology

  2. contemptible; despicable; servile: an abject liar

Origin of abject

1
C14: (in the sense: rejected, cast out): from Latin abjectus thrown or cast away, from abjicere, from ab- away + jacere to throw

Derived forms of abject

  • abjection, noun
  • abjectly, adverb
  • abjectness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012