English Explanatory Dictionary

heinous

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Totally reprehensible.
  2. Bad, evil or villainous.

Pronunciation

/ˈheɪnəs/ /ˈhiːnəs/ en-uk-heinous.ogg en-us-heinous.ogg en-au-heinous.ogg

Word forms

heinous more heinous most heinous hainous

Etymology

From Middle English hainous, from Old French haïneus (compare French haineux) from haïr (“to hate”), hadir (“to hate”) (compare Old French en-hadir (“to become filled with hate”)), from Frankish *hattjan (“to hate”) (compare Middle English hetien). More at hate. The fluctuation between pronunciations with /eɪ/ and /iː/ is old; the former reflects adoption of an unmonophthongised pronunciation of Old French -ai-, while the latter reflects a monophthongised form.

Synonyms

abominable horrible odious

Antonyms

unheinous

Related words

hate

Derived words

heinously heinousness unheinous
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