• Today's Word

Odious

🔊 Listen to the word Odious

OH-dee-us

Definition

(adjective) Extremely unpleasant or repulsive; deserving or arousing hatred.

Example

The politician’s odious remarks about vulnerable communities sparked widespread outrage.

Word Origin

Late Middle English: from Latin “odiosus,” from “odium” meaning “hatred,” derived from “odi” meaning “I hate.”

Fun Fact

Odious doesn’t just mean unpleasant—it describes something so offensive it provokes hatred or disgust. Legal scholars coined the phrase “odious debt” for loans taken by corrupt regimes that morally shouldn’t be repaid by successor governments. The term “odious comparison” comes from Shakespeare, who wrote “comparisons are odorous” (likely meaning odious). While “odor” and “odious” sound similar, they’re unrelated etymologically, though something truly odious might well smell bad too. The word maintains its power precisely because we reserve it for things genuinely deserving contempt rather than mere dislike.