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A.Word.A.Day--anathema

This week in AWAD: assorted words.

anathema (uh-NATH-uh-muh) noun

1. Something or someone intensely disliked.

2. A ban, curse, or vigorous denunciation.

[From Late Latin, from Greek anathema (something devoted to evil).]

See more usage examples of anathema in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

"Our columnist, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, may well be right that Madonna should be considered anathema to the feminist movement because she has 'spawned a tragic world where, according to Time magazine, 40 percent of American teenage girls now wear thongs and thousands of college girls lift their shirts in exchange for a T-shirt.'" Welcome, Madonna; Jerusalem Post (Israel); Sep 19, 2004.

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