heinous

English

WOTD – 16 January 2010

Etymology

From Old French haïneus (compare French haineux) from haïr (“to hate”), hadir (“to hate”)(compare Old French enhadir (“to become filled with hate”)), from Frankish *hatjan (“to hate”)

Pronunciation

(UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈheɪnəs/
(UK) IPA^(key): /ˈhiːnəs/
Audio (UK) (file)
Audio (US) (file)
Audio (AU) (file)
Rhymes: -eɪnəs

Adjective

heinous (comparative more heinous, superlative most heinous)

Totally reprehensible.
I hope they catch the person responsible for that heinous crime.
The perpetrators of this heinous act must be brought to justice.
The government denounced the attack as the most heinous of the last decade.
Political Leaders from around the world have condemned these heinous acts.
In our public services sorry seems to be the most heinous word.

Usage notes

Nouns to which "heinous" is often applied: crime, act, sin, murder, offence.

Synonyms

(totally reprehensible): abominable, horrible, odious

Antonyms

unheinous (rare)

Derived terms

unheinous

Translations

totally reprehensible

Armenian: զզվելի (hy) (zzveli), նողկալի (hy) (nołkali), գարշելի (hy) (garšeli), անպետք (hy) (anpetkʿ), սարսափելի (hy) (sarsapʿeli), զարհուրելի (hy) (zarhureli)
Bulgarian: отвратителен (bg) (otvratitelen), гнусен (bg) (gnusen)
Czech: ohavný, odporný (cs)
Danish: afskyelig (da), frygtelig, grufuld, motbydelig
Dutch: afschuwelijk (nl), afgrijselijk (nl), afschrikwekkend (nl), verschrikkelijk (nl), verwerpelijk (nl)
Faroese: andstyggiligur
Finnish: katala (fi), kauhea (fi), hirvittävä (fi)
French: atroce (fr)
Galician: atroz (gl)
German: abscheulich (de), verabscheuungswürdig (de)
Greek: στυγερός (el) m (stygerós), αποτρόπαιος (el) m (apotrópaios), απεχθής (el) m (apechthís), μισητός (el) m (misitós)

Hungarian: förtelmes (hu), szörnyű (hu)
Icelandic: viðbjóðslegur (is)
Italian: efferato (it), abominevole (it), odioso (it)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: avskyelig, motbydelig (no)
Nynorsk: avskyeleg
Portuguese: hediondo (pt)
Russian: гну́сный (ru) (gnúsnyj), ме́рзкий (ru) (mérzkij), отврати́тельный (ru) (otvratítelʹnyj)
Spanish: atroz (es)
Swedish: avskyvärd (sv), vedervärdig (sv), förfärlig (sv), ohygglig (sv), skändlig (sv)

Anagrams

in house, in-house, inhouse