abject.
Existing in or sunk to a low condition, position, or state; contemptible, despicable, miserable.
Meaning & usage
Existing in or sunk to a low condition, position, or state; contemptible, despicable, miserable.
Complete; downright; utter.
abject failure abject nonsense abject terror
Lower than nearby areas; low-lying.
Of a person: cast down in hope or spirit; showing utter helplessness, hopelessness, or resignation; also, grovelling; ingratiating; servile.
Marginalized as deviant.
Where this word comes from
PIE word *h₂epó The adjective is derived from Late Middle English abiect, abject (adjective) [and other forms], from Middle French abject (modern French abject, abjet (obsolete)), and from its etymon Latin abiectus (“abandoned; cast aside”), an adjective use of the perfect passive participle of abiciō (“to discard, throw away”), from ab- (prefix meaning ‘away from’) + iaciō (“to throw”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(H)yeh₁- (“to throw”)). The noun is derived from the adjective. Cognates * Italian abiecto (obsolete), abietto * Late Latin abiectus (“humble or poor person”, noun) * Spanish abjecto (obsolete), abyecto
A person in the lowest and most despicable condition; an oppressed person; an outcast; also, such people as a class.
Where this word comes from
PIE word *h₂epó The adjective is derived from Late Middle English abiect, abject (adjective) [and other forms], from Middle French abject (modern French abject, abjet (obsolete)), and from its etymon Latin abiectus (“abandoned; cast aside”), an adjective use of the perfect passive participle of abiciō (“to discard, throw away”), from ab- (prefix meaning ‘away from’) + iaciō (“to throw”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(H)yeh₁- (“to throw”)). The noun is derived from the adjective. Cognates * Italian abiecto (obsolete), abietto * Late Latin abiectus (“humble or poor person”, noun) * Spanish abjecto (obsolete), abyecto
To cast off or out (someone or something); to reject, especially as contemptible or inferior.
To cast down (someone or something); to abase; to debase; to degrade; to lower; also, to forcibly impose obedience or servitude upon (someone); to subjugate.
Of a fungus: to (forcibly) give off (spores or sporidia).
Where this word comes from
From Late Middle English abjecten (“to cast out, expel”) [and other forms], from abiect, abject (adjective) (see etymology 1). Sense 3 (“of a fungus: to give off (spores or sporidia)”) is modelled after German abschleudern (“to give off forcefully”).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.