Αγορά Πολιτών

Execrable

adjective

1. utterly detestable; abominable; abhorrent.

2. very bad: an execrable stage performance.

Origin of execrable: Middle English, Latin.

1350-1400 for earlier sense “expressing a curse”; 1480-90 for def 1; Middle English < Latin ex (s) ecrābilis accursed, detestable. See execrate, -able

Related forms

execrableness, noun

execrably, adverb

Examples from the Web for execrable

Contemporary Examples

• Anything, for example, to take our minds off the execrable “dining experience.”
• So I'm not criticizing her, and I'm certainly not defending DW Griffith's execrable opinions.

Historical Examples

• And yet he could not make up his mind that Martial was guilty of the execrable act.
  The Honor of the Name, Emile Gaboriau

[source: http://www.dictionary.com/browse/execrable]

Earlier, while I was studying a dictionary I found the word, “execrable”, which was an unknown English word, for me.

This word’s extremely negative “load” impressed me so much that I wondered if this word could be excluded from, potentially, expressing properties of the character of a human being?

In order to satisfy my own question I made a simple test: I tried to find out, if a person could ever become characterized as execrable, what might be the reasons of this characterization, provided that, those kind of reasons could exist.

After thorough investigation of this matter I concluded that, it is rational for, even, a human being to deserve becoming characterized as execrable, provided that, this human being has indulge in theoretical actions like, e.g.:

• Stealing from an unwilling live donor his tissues, and/or his organs, for selling them to people who need tissue/organ transplantation.
• Turning unwilling human beings to guinea pigs for conducting illicit, medical and/or pharmaceutical, experiments.
• Deliberately causing cancer, or, other lethal illness, to either, unwilling live donors, or, to unwilling human guinea pigs, in order to, eventually, assassinate them, for securing that the perpetrators of those atrocities shall remain unpunished.
• Throwing to a jail, or, to a mental institution, people who are innocent, after incriminating them with fabricated false evidence, in order for them to die “quietly”, after having subjected them to a deliberate causing of cancer, or, other lethal illnesses, in order to, eventually, cause their death.
• Etc.

After doing some additional thinking about this notion, I realized that, unfortunately, the history of our human kind includes many reasons for using “execrable” to characterize certain individuals.

More specifically, genuine execrableness (certainly, I exclude the kind of false execrableness which is a product of fraud, and/or, slandering), according to my opinion, is one of those qualities which makes a dissent and honest person, though s/he is willing to offer help to another, execrable, person, he becomes unable to, eventually, offer this help.

Execrableness, from a certain viewpoint, seemingly, degrades the humanness of human beings while “evaporates” their ability to truly relate with the other human beings. And, eventually, wherever execrable people are involved, it is meaningful, I believe, for one to estimate whether it is worthy, or, not, to jeopardize the quality, and some times even the existence itself, of his own sacred life, just for keeping any kind of contact with this kind of people.

In real life I could characterize as execrable, for example, all the colonial atrocities which have been committed during the past few centuries; and furthermore, as modern colonialism continues its violent practices against the innocent civilians in its colonies, though by, propably, using more advanced technical means, I feel that colonialists, may be very close to the threshold, if not already having gone beyond this threshold, of becoming execrable themselves.

Concluding, I think that, any manifestations of execrableness indicate probable vulnerabilities of our civilization. The overcoming of those vulnerabilities, preferably, could become beneficial for all the members of our human kind, provided that, those potential beneficiaries haven’t chosen to become execrable.

Christos Boumpoulis

Economist

P.S.: According to my opinion, everything in real life should and could, have an upper limit; even the atrocities.