Hateful
/ˈheɪt.fəl/noun
Full of hate or causing intense dislike.
Did you know?In Old English, the ancestor of *hateful* could mean not just “full of hate” but also “hateful, odious, or detestable,” showing how early English often turned emotion into moral danger.
Etymological Timeline
Old English
OE
hātful
“Hateful; odious; detestable”
Old English
OE
hatan
“To hate; to command; to call”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*haitijaną
“To hate; to call, summon”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*haitaz
“Hated; hateful”
Modern English
English
hateful
“Full of hate or arousing hatred”