abjection
State of humiliation
Abjection is a state of extreme degradation, misery, or wretchedness.
The word emphasizes being cast down or brought low: living in abjection, the abjection of poverty.
In critical theory, particularly Julia Kristeva's work, abjection refers to the psychological horror we feel toward things that disturb boundaries between self and other—corpses, bodily fluids, decay.
This theoretical sense appears frequently in literary and cultural criticism.
Diminishing worth or purity
- squalorDirty, degraded living conditions
- filthFoul, accumulated matter
- decayGradual organic breakdown
- rotOrganic breakdown process
deterioration · wretchedness · baseness · vileness · lowliness · defilement · corruption · depravity
Extreme unhappiness or distress
- miseryIntense prolonged distress
- hopelessnessState without hope
- anguishIntense mental suffering
- sufferingSustained experience of distress
torment · desolation · existential crisis · abandonment · forsaken · desperation · forlornness · annihilation
Intense physical aversion
- horrorExtreme fear or disgust
- repugnanceIntense distaste or disgust
- loathingIntense, settled disgust
- nauseaPre-vomiting stomach discomfort
abhorrence · recoil · the uncanny · contamination · pollution · taboo · defilement · excrement
Painful awareness of failure
- degradationDecline in condition
- mortificationIntense shame or embarrassment
- disgraceLoss of honor
- abasementState of being lowered
indignity · dehumanization · servility · groveling · self-loathing · worthlessness · submission · subjugation
Banishment from a group
- marginalizationRelegation to powerless periphery
- outcastShunned, rejected person
- pariahRejected, shunned person
- exileBanishment from homeland
banishment · rejection · alienation · scapegoat · untouchable · displacement · othering · stigmatization
debasement
Diminishing worth or purity
rot · deterioration · wretchedness · baseness · vileness · lowliness · defilement · corruption · depravity · sordidness
wretchedness
Extreme unhappiness or distress
- miseryIntense prolonged distress
- hopelessnessState without hope
- anguishIntense mental suffering
suffering · torment · desolation · existential crisis · abandonment · forsaken · desperation · forlornness · annihilation · void
disgust
Intense physical aversion
- horrorExtreme fear or disgust
- repugnanceIntense distaste or disgust
- loathingIntense, settled disgust
nausea · abhorrence · recoil · the uncanny · contamination · pollution · taboo · defilement · excrement · corpse
shame
Painful awareness of failure
- degradationDecline in condition
- mortificationIntense shame or embarrassment
- disgraceLoss of honor
abasement · indignity · dehumanization · servility · groveling · self-loathing · worthlessness · submission · subjugation · prostration
ostracism
Banishment from a group
- marginalizationRelegation to powerless periphery
- outcastShunned, rejected person
- pariahRejected, shunned person
exile · banishment · rejection · alienation · scapegoat · untouchable · displacement · othering · stigmatization · segregation
abjectionexaltation
Intense joyful elevation
dignity · nobility · honor · eminence · glorification
abjectionvirtue
Moral goodness or merit
righteousness · nobility · moral excellence · goodness · morality
abjectionself-respect
Valuing one's own worth
pride · dignity · self-worth · confidence · self-esteem
object, reject, subject, inject, eject, projection, conjecture, abject, dejection