heinous
adjective
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L337309 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈheɪnəs/ / /ˈhiːnəs/
adj
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.
- Totally reprehensible.
“I hope they catch the person responsible for that heinous crime.”
“The perpetrators of this heinous act must be brought to justice.”
- Bad, evil or villainous.