adj. 2. Being of the most miserable kind; wretched: abject poverty; abject grief. 3. Thoroughgoing; complete. Used to modify pejorative nouns: an abject failure. 4. Extremely submissive or self-abasing: abject apologies. [Middle English, outcast, from Latin abiectus, past participle of abicere, to cast away : ab-, from; see AB-1 + iacere, to throw; see yē- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] abject′ly adv. ab·jectness n. ab·jection n. |
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