abject

Meaning

Adj

1. Existing in or sunk to a low condition, position, or state; contemptible, despicable, miserable.
2. Complete; downright; utter.
3. Lower than nearby areas; low-lying.
4. Of a person: cast down in hope or spirit; showing utter helplessness, hopelessness, or resignation; also, grovelling; ingratiating; servile.
5. Marginalized as deviant.

Noun

A person in the lowest and most despicable condition; an oppressed person; an outcast; also, such people as a class.

Verb

1. To cast off or out (someone or something); to reject, especially as contemptible or inferior.
2. 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.
3. Of a fungus: to (forcibly) give off (spores or sporidia).

Synonyms

miserable

low

wretched

dismal

meager

mean

despicable

vile

forlorn

contemptible

base

poor

shameful

ignoble

squalid

pitiful

pitiable

nasty

subservient

loathsome

abhorrent

low-down

lowlife

unenviable

unhopeful

menial

gross

abominable

obsequious

outcast

debasing

piteous

beggarly

hopeless

dejected

humble

disgraceful

scummy

scurvy

servile

deplorable

slavish

depraved

sordid

sorry

servility

sleazy

ultra

unblessed

unblest

unconditional

unconditioned

unobtrusive

unpretentious

unquestionable

unquestioning

villainous

worthless

helminthoid

abasing

loathful

absolute

accursed

awful

beastly

caitiff

categoric

categorical

degrading

depressed

desolate

despairing

desperate

despised

detestable

dire

dramatic

drastic

extreme

foul

ghastly

gruesome

haggard

hard-and-fast

hideous

horrible

humbled

immoral

impoverished

lamentable

lousy

lowly

meanness

obligate

obnoxious

odious

pathetic

peremptory

positive

putrid

repugnant

reverent

scrub

scrubby

seedy

Hyphenated as

ab‧ject

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈæbd͡ʒɛkt/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: abiect

Cognate with French: abject

Cognate with Italian: abiecto

Cognate with Spanish: abjecto

Inherited from Middle English: abjecten

In summary

PIE word
*h₂epó
The adjective is derived from Late Middle English abiect, abject (“expelled, outcast, rejected, wretched”, adjective) [and other forms], from Middle French abject (“worthy of utmost contempt or disgust, despicable, vile; of a person: brought low, cast down; of low social position”) (modern French abject, abjet (obsolete)), and from its etymon Latin abiectus (“abandoned; cast or thrown aside; dejected, downcast; ordinary, undistinguished, unimportant; (by extension) base, sordid; despicable, vile; humble, low; subservient”), an adjective use of the perfect passive participle of abiciō (“to discard, throw away or down; to cast or push away or aside; to abandon, give up; to belittle, degrade, humble; to lower, reduce; to overthrow, vanquish; to undervalue; to waste”), from ab- (prefix meaning ‘away; away from; from’) + iaciō (“to cast, hurl, throw, throw away”) (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