What does abominable mean?
Word: Abominable
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Abominable means very unpleasant or very bad; so dreadful that it causes disgust.
Synonyms: dreadful, appalling, atrocious, loathsome
Antonyms: delightful, pleasant, admirable
Word origin: Comes from Latin abominabilis, from abominari 'to shun as a bad omen', from ab 'away' and omen.
How do you spell abominable?
Syllables: a - bom - i - na - ble
Tricky part: Only one m, even though the stress falls on bom. Abomminable, with a doubled m, is the slip to watch.
Watch out for: abomminable, abbominable
Memory tip: Think of omen and ominous: the m in abominable is the single m of omen.
Abominable in a sentence
Example 1: The smell from the blocked drain behind the market was abominable.
Example 2: We sat in abominable traffic for two hours on the way to Pune.
Example 3: Leaving litter on the beach is abominable behaviour.
Fun Fact
The yeti got the English name Abominable Snowman in 1921, when a journalist reported on huge footprints seen by climbers on a British Everest expedition.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell Spies
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) despicable
b) formidable
c) abominible
d) invincible
Show answer
c) abominible. The verb is abominate, and verbs ending in ate usually take able, like tolerate and tolerable.
Word Champ
Read the statements and choose the correct option:
1. An abominable act is one that is admired by everyone. 2. Something ominous suggests that something bad is going to happen. 3. An abomination is a thing that causes disgust or hatred.
a) only 1 and 3 are true
b) only 1 is true
c) all three are true
d) only 2 and 3 are true
Show answer
d) only 2 and 3 are true. Statement 1 gets the meaning back to front: an abominable act is hated, not admired.
Word Tally
How many words are misspelt in the given sentence?
The weather on our trek was abomenable: it rained every afternoon and the path turned into thick, slippery mud.
a) 2
b) 3
c) 1
d) 0
Show answer
c) 1. Only one word is wrong: the vowel after the m in abominable is i, not e.
Sound Check
In which word is 'o' pronounced differently?
a) abominable
b) bonfire
c) hostel
d) comb
Show answer
d) comb. Comb has the long o of home; the other three have the short o of hot.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A restaurant review calls the service abominable. The reviewer was ___.
a) unsure what to think
b) very unhappy with it
c) quite pleased with it
d) surprised by its speed
Show answer
b) very unhappy with it
2. Most people would call ___ abominable.
a) arriving a minute late
b) forgetting a pencil at home
c) dumping rubbish in a river
d) losing a game of carrom
Show answer
c) dumping rubbish in a river
