Abject

Pronunciation

• (attributive) US IPA: /ˈæb.dÍ¡Ê’É›kt/, enPR: 'ăbjÄ•kt
• US IPA: /æbˈdÍ¡Ê’É›kt/, enPR: ăbʹjÄ•kt
• Rhymes: -É›kt

• From Middle English abiect ("outcast, wretched"), from Latin abiectus, past participle of abiciō ("to throw away, cast off, to reject"), from ab ("away") + iaciō ("to throw")

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Full definition of abject

Adjective

1. (obsolete) Rejected; cast aside. Attested from around (1350 to 1470) until the early 17^th century.

1. Sunk to or existing in a low condition, state, or position. First attested from around (1350 to 1470).
• 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, So thick bestrown abject and lost lay these, covering the flood.
2. Cast down in spirit or hope; degraded; servile; grovelling; despicable; lacking courage; offered in a humble and often ingratiating spirit. First attested from around (1350 to 1470).
• Joseph Addison, Whig Examiner, Base and abject flatterers.
• 1848, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, An abject liar.
• Shakespeare, Taming of the Shrew, And banish hence these abject, lowly dreams.
• 1931, Faulkner, Sanctuary, He sat obediently with that tentative and abject eagerness of a man who has but one pleasure left and whom the world can reach only through one sense, for he was both blind and deaf.
3. Showing utter hopelessness; helplessness; showing resignation; wretched. First attested from around (1350 to 1470).
• 1927, Countee Cullen, From the Dark Tower, We shall not always plant while others reap
  The golden increment of bursting fruit,
  Not always countenance, abject and mute
  That lesser men should hold cheap

Usage notes

Nouns to which "abject" is often applied: poverty, fear, terror, submission, misery, failure, state, condition, apology, humility, servitude, manner, coward.

Synonyms

• beggarly, contemptible, cringing, degraded, groveling, ignoble, mean, mean-spirited, slavish, vile, worthless

Related terms

• abjectly
• abjectness

Noun

1. A person in the lowest and most despicable condition; a castaway; outcast. First attested from the late 15^th century.
• Isaac Taylor, Shall these abjects, these victims, these outcasts, know any thing of pleasure?
• Shakespeare, Richard III, We are the queen's abjects, and must obey.

From Middle English abjecten, derived from the adjective form.

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Verb

1. (transitive, obsolete) To cast off or out; to reject. Attested from around (1350 to 1470) until the late 17^th century.
• 2001, Jana Evans Braziel, Kathleen LeBesco (editors), Bodies out of bounds: fatness and transgression, Rather than abjecting her own fat body, the Ipecac-taking fat girl is abjecting diet culture.
2. (transitive, obsolete) To cast down; hence, to abase; to degrade; to lower; to debase. Attested from around (1350 to 1470) until the late 17^th century.

Related terms

• abjection