deplorable en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- (General-American) audio
- /dəˈplɔɹəb(ə)l/ (General-American)
- (Received-Pronunciation) audio
- /dɪˈplɔːɹəbl̩/ (Received-Pronunciation)
Etymology
The adjective is borrowed from French déplorable (“lamentable, regrettable”), or from its etymon Late Latin dēplōrābilis + English -able (suffix meaning ‘relevant to, suitable to’). Dēplōrābilis is derived from Latin dēplōrō (“to bemoan, complain about; to bewail, lament, deplore”) + -ābilis (suffix meaning ‘able or worthy to be’); while dēplōrō is from dē- (intensifying prefix) + 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. Noun sense 2 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”.
Meanings
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To be deplored. ▸ To be felt sorrow for; worthy of compassion; lamentable.
If, however, the early symptoms of insanity be neglected till the brain becomes accustomed to the irregular actions of disease, or till organic changes take place from the early violence of those actions, then the case becomes hopeless of cure. In this situation, in too many cases, the victim of this deplorable malady is cast off by his friends, thrust into a dungeon or in chains, there to remain till the shattered intellect shall exhaust all its remaining energies in perpetual raving and violence, till it sinks into hopeless and deplorable idiocy.
1837, [Samuel B.?] Woodward, quotee, “Asylum for Poor Lunatics at Worcester, Massachusetts”, in Twelfth Annual Report of the Board of Managers of the Prison Discipline Society, Boston, May, 1837, Boston, Mass.: [Prison Discipline Society]; stereotyped at the Boston Type and Stereotype Foundery, →OCLC, page 19:[T]ho' my Caſe vvas deplorable enough, yet I had great Cauſe for Thankfulneſs, and that I vvas not driven to any Extremities for Food; but rather Plenty, even to Dainties.
1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC, pages 128–129:But the people beheld the deplorable ſituation of their Sovereign vvith inſenſibility; and ſo ſtrong vvas their perſuaſion of her guilt, and ſo great the violence of their indignation, that the ſufferings of their Queen did not, in any degree, mitigate their reſentment, or procure her that ſympathy, vvhich is ſeldom denied to unfortunate Princes.
1759, William Robertson, “Book IV”, in The History of Scotland, during the Reigns of Queen Mary and of King James VI, till His Accession to the Crown of England. […], volume I, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar […], →OCLC, page 368:[T]he storie of / Your most deplorable fortune at the first warmde mee / With more then modest heates, but since I saw you / I am all fire, and shall turne cyndars, yf / You showe not mercie to mee.
1631 May 17 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), Philip Massinger, Believe as You List: A Tragedy (Early English Poetry, Ballads, and Popular Literature of the Middle Ages. […]; XXVII), London: […] [F]or the Percy Society, by Richards, […], published 1849, →OCLC, Act IV, scene ii:[T]heſe ſeaſons are defined by the motions of the Sun; […] vvhereas remaining in one place theſe diſtinctions had ceaſed, and conſequently the generation of all things depending on their viciſſitudes; making in one hemiſphere a perpetuall Summer, in the other a deplorable and comfortleſſe VVinter, […]
1646, Thomas Browne, “A Digression of the Wisdome of God in the Site and Motion of the Sun”, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], London: […] T[homas] H[arper] for Edward Dod, […], →OCLC, 6th book, page 291:O hard-hearted, and deplorable Tovvn of Manſoul, hovv long vvilt thou love thy ſinful, ſinful ſimplicity, and ye fools delight in their ſcorning?
1682, John Bunyan, “[The Summons It Self]”, in The Holy War, Made by Shaddai upon Diabolus, for the Regaining of the Metropolis of the World. […], London: […] Dorman Newman […]; and Benjamin Alsop […], →OCLC, page 94:We were all saddened by the deplorable death of his son.
The condition of the Creeks and Cherokees, to which I have already alluded, sufficiently corroborates the truth of this deplorable picture.
1835, Alexis de Tocqueville, “The Present, and Probable Future Condition of the Three Races which Inhabit the Territory of the United States”, in Henry Reeve, transl., Democracy in America. […], volume II, London: Saunders and Otley, […], →OCLC, pages 306–307:Such a scandal as the prosecution of a brother for forgery—with a verdict of guilty—is a most truly horrible, deplorable, fatal thing. It takes the respectability out of a family perhaps at a critical moment, when the family is just assuming the robes of respectability; [...] it is a black spot which all the soaps ever advertised could never wash off.
1892, Walter Besant, “Prologue: Who is Edmund Gray?”, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC, page 23:
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To be deplored. ▸ Deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad, wretched.
I assert that the attacks directed against the Bank of the United States, originate in the same propensities which militate against the Federal Government; and that the very numerous opponents of the former afford a deplorable symptom of the decreasing support of the latter.
1835, Alexis de Tocqueville, “The Present, and Probable Future Condition of the Three Races which Inhabit the Territory of the United States”, in Henry Reeve, transl., Democracy in America. […], volume II, London: Saunders and Otley, […], →OCLC, page 413:The repeated tactic of deus ex machina (without a deus) has a deplorable effect on both the plot and the dialogue.
2007 August 12, Christopher Hitchens, “Harry Potter: The Boy Who Lived”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 07 Apr 2020:Poor children suffer permanent damage due to deplorable living conditions and deplorable treatment by law enforcement.
Poor children are often accused of having deplorable manners, when they are, in fact, simply responding to society in ways that mirror how society treats them.
There are some abuses among us of great consequence, the reformation of which is properly your province; though, as far as I have been conversant in your papers, you have not yet considered them. These are, the deplorable ignorance that for some years hath reigned among our English writers, the great depravity of our taste, and the continual corruption of our style.
1710 October 8 (Gregorian calendar), Isaac Bickerstaff [et al., pseudonyms; Jonathan Swift], “Wednesday, September 28, 1710”, in The Tatler, number 230; republished in [Richard Steele], editor, The Tatler, […], London stereotype edition, volume III, London: I. Walker and Co.; […], 1822, →OCLC, page 254:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| more deplorable | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| most deplorable | Degree=Sup | lexicographic |
Deriveds
deplorability · Depplorable · deplorably · deplorableness · DePlorean
Relateds
deplorate · deploration · deplore · deplorative · deplorement · deplored
Synonyms
pathetic · scornworthy · damnable · regrettable · upsetting · sad · tragic · lachrymable · heartrending · distressing · lamentable · rueful · mournful · woeful · heartbreaking · deplorable · atrabilious · deplorate · miserable · grievous · unhappy · sorrowful · atrabiliary · saddening · depressing · woebegone
Translations (76)
de verdammungswürdig (deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad — see also wretched) · nl verwerpelijk (deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad — see also wretched) · es deplorable (deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad — see also wretched) · de beklagenswert (to be felt sorrow for; worthy of compassion — see also lamentable) · sv bedrövlig (deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad — see also wretched) · be жа́ласны (to be felt sorrow for; worthy of compassion — see also lamentable) · it deprecabile (deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad — see also wretched) · nb stakkarslig (to be felt sorrow for; worthy of compassion — see also lamentable) · fi (paheksuttavan) surkea (deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad — see also wretched) · eo plorinda (to be felt sorrow for; worthy of compassion — see also lamentable) · da beklagelig (to be felt sorrow for; worthy of compassion — see also lamentable) · it deplorabile (deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad — see also wretched) · be су́мны (to be felt sorrow for; worthy of compassion — see also lamentable) · be дрэ́нны (deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad — see also wretched) · fi paheksuttava (deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad — see also wretched) · el λυπηρός (to be felt sorrow for; worthy of compassion — see also lamentable) · uk пла́чний (to be felt sorrow for; worthy of compassion — see also lamentable) · fr déplorable (deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad — see also wretched) · pt desprezível (deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad — see also wretched) · da elendig (deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad — see also wretched) · de bedauerlich (to be felt sorrow for; worthy of compassion — see also lamentable) · de bedauernswert (to be felt sorrow for; worthy of compassion — see also lamentable) · de miserabel (deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad — see also wretched) · it deplorevole (deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad — see also wretched) · de verdammenswert (deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad — see also wretched) · tr acınacak halde (to be felt sorrow for; worthy of compassion — see also lamentable) · ru несча́стный (to be felt sorrow for; worthy of compassion — see also lamentable) · nl deerniswekkend (to be felt sorrow for; worthy of compassion — see also lamentable) · ru плаче́вный (deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad — see also wretched) · de (verdammenswert) erbärmlich (deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad — see also wretched) · fr lamentable (deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad — see also wretched) · ru скве́рный (deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad — see also wretched) · be ке́пскі (deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad — see also wretched) · fr pitoyable (deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad — see also wretched) · uk жа́лібний (to be felt sorrow for; worthy of compassion — see also lamentable) · ro deplorabil (deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad — see also wretched) · uk жалібни́й (to be felt sorrow for; worthy of compassion — see also lamentable) · mk жа́лосен (to be felt sorrow for; worthy of compassion — see also lamentable) · el αξιοθρήνητος (to be felt sorrow for; worthy of compassion — see also lamentable) · tr içler acısı (deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad — see also wretched) · pt deplorável (to be felt sorrow for; worthy of compassion — see also lamentable) · el ελεεινός (deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad — see also wretched) · fi surkuteltava (to be felt sorrow for; worthy of compassion — see also lamentable) · bg за оплакване (to be felt sorrow for; worthy of compassion — see also lamentable) · uk ке́пський (deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad — see also wretched) · fi valitettava (to be felt sorrow for; worthy of compassion — see also lamentable) · ro lamentabil (to be felt sorrow for; worthy of compassion — see also lamentable) · de (verdammenswert) kläglich (deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad — see also wretched) · ru приско́рбный (to be felt sorrow for; worthy of compassion — see also lamentable) · ro deplorabil (to be felt sorrow for; worthy of compassion — see also lamentable) · ro nenorocit (to be felt sorrow for; worthy of compassion — see also lamentable) · mk бе́ден (deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad — see also wretched) · fi (paheksuttavan) kurja (deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad — see also wretched) · el οικτρός (deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad — see also wretched) · eo terura (deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad — see also wretched) · tr acınacak durumda (to be felt sorrow for; worthy of compassion — see also lamentable) · de schimpflich (deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad — see also wretched) · ota رذیل (deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad — see also wretched) · nl deplorabel (to be felt sorrow for; worthy of compassion — see also lamentable) · eo kondamninda (deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad — see also wretched) · nl betreurenswaardig (to be felt sorrow for; worthy of compassion — see also lamentable) · nrf lamentabl'ye (deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad — see also wretched) · de verwerflich (deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad — see also wretched) · pt lamentável (to be felt sorrow for; worthy of compassion — see also lamentable) · bg плачевен (deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad — see also wretched) · es lamentable (to be felt sorrow for; worthy of compassion — see also lamentable) · uk пога́ний (deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad — see also wretched) · sv beklagansvärd (to be felt sorrow for; worthy of compassion — see also lamentable) · da sørgelig (to be felt sorrow for; worthy of compassion — see also lamentable) · ja 嘆かわしい (to be felt sorrow for; worthy of compassion — see also lamentable) · de skandalös (deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad — see also wretched) · eo abomeninda (deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad — see also wretched) · el αξιολύπητος (to be felt sorrow for; worthy of compassion — see also lamentable) · es deplorable (to be felt sorrow for; worthy of compassion — see also lamentable) · el άθλιος (deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad — see also wretched) · pt deplorável (deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad — see also wretched)
wikipedia: Hillary Clinton · wikipedia: Donald Trump · wikipedia: 2016 United States presidential election · wikipedia: basket of deplorables