detect
/dɪˈtɛkt/
verb
Common
1.v.discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of
“She detected high levels of lead in her drinking water”
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detect and detest differ by a single letter, buried far enough into the word to be easy to miss. detect means “discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of”. detest means “dislike intensely; feel antipathy or aversion towards”. detect is the more common of the two in everyday English.
/dɪˈtɛkt/
1.v.discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of
“She detected high levels of lead in her drinking water”
/dɪˈtɛst/
1.v.dislike intensely; feel antipathy or aversion towards
“I hate Mexican food”
| detect | detest | |
|---|---|---|
| Pronunciation | /dɪˈtɛkt/ | /dɪˈtɛst/ |
| Said | di-TEKT | di-TEST |
| Syllables | 2 | 2 |
| Letters | 6 | 6 |
| Parts of speech | verb | verb |
| Senses | 1 | 1 |
| How common | Common | Familiar |
| Synonyms | observe, find, discover | hate |
Full entry for detect · Full entry for detest · More comparisons