deplorable

UK/dɪˈplɔːɹəbl̩/US/dəˈplɔɹəb(ə)l/

adjectiveC1Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #8,581 of 15,258neutral

Deplorable means so bad that it deserves open condemnation. Deplorable conditions, a deplorable decision, deplorable behaviour.

It is a formal and public word, used in statements and resolutions where somebody wants to condemn without threatening anything. Its literal sense is to be wept over, from the Latin, which is stronger than the modern use suggests.

Definitions of deplorable

1adjectivedeplorableSo bad that it deserves open condemnation.C1
“The prisoners were kept in deplorable conditions, with no heating or clean water.”

deplorable is a quality.

Where it comes from

Latin deplorabilis comes from deplorare, to lament — de plus plorare, to weep.

Proto-Indo-European
*pleh₃(w)-
Latin
dēplōrābilis
French
déplorable — lamentable, regrettable
English, today
deplorable

Built from

plōrō · Latin — to cry out; to complain; to lament, deplore

The adjective is borrowed from French déplorable (“lamentable, regrettable”), or from its etymon Latin dēplōrābilis + -able. Dēplōrābilis is derived from Latin dēplōrō (“to bemoan, complain about; to bewail, lament, deplore”) + -ābilis; while dēplōrō is from dē- + plōrō (“to cry out; to complain; to lament, deplore”) (possibly from Proto-Indo-European pleh₃(w)- (“to flow; to swim”)). by surface analysis, deplore + -able. The noun is derived from the adjective. US politics refers to a campaign speech by the American politician and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton (born 1947) during the 2016 United States presidential election calling half of the supporters of her Republican opponent Donald Trump (born 1946) a “basket of deplorables”.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

deplorable in the wild

For conspiring with Jameson, the members of the Reform Committee were charged, confined in deplorable conditions and finally found guilty of high treason against the Transvaal.
Johannesburg Reform Committee
For the next few weeks, the Reform Committee leaders were jailed in deplorable conditions, and some, including Hammond, nearly died.
Johannesburg Reform Committee
The rents are high, the food is bad, the dust is disgusting and the morals are deplorable.
Go West, young man
The match was played in deplorable conditions in the height of winter, however, in spite of this, both sides played excellent hurling.
1971 All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship final
The first game was played in deplorable conditions.
1995 All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship final

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the plōrō family

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