anathema

Questions about anathema

What does anathema mean?

anathema means "a detested person". That is the primary sense; the word has 2 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in anathema?

anathema has 4 syllables: a-nat-he-ma. The stress falls on "nat". In IPA it is /əˈnæθəmə/.

What is another word for anathema?

Close synonyms include bete noire. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is anathema a common word?

anathema is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.