Someone abject is mean.
Abject is an adjective whose first meaning mentioned by the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ) refers to one who is mean or evil . The term derives from abiectus , a Latin word that in turn comes from the verb abiicĕre (translatable as “deprave” or “humiliate” ).
For example: “We have a moral obligation to combat this abject regime that despises human rights and makes citizens live in unworthy conditions,” “The town police station is run by an abject man who is not interested in ensuring compliance.” the law” , “The player's abject behavior must be sanctioned by the club” .
Concept of abject
Abject is something that generates contempt . Suppose a person traps a dog, tortures it, then kills it, and finally posts images of the process on social media, where he celebrates his own actions. The behavior of this subject, without a doubt, can be described as abject.
The qualification can also be applied to individuals who carry out outrageous or harmful actions . If a judge dictates his rulings according to the bribe he asks of the accused, he may be defined as an abject man. A judicial official is expected to act in accordance with what is established by law : anyone who deviates from the legislation and also commits a crime with his or her actions cannot provide justice. That is why the judge who works based on bribes turns out to be someone abject, despicable.
Someone abject provokes contempt.
Other applications of the term
The adjective is even applied to more abstract issues, such as a government, a project or a context: “The cut announced by the authorities is abject since it leaves thousands of people without social coverage.”
It is worth mentioning that the RAE dictionary includes a second meaning, according to which the term abject can describe a person who has been humiliated or whose pride has been hurt. However, it is a meaning that has fallen into disuse.
Abject and subjectivity
The word abject, as well as most of the words that serve to elaborate its definition, belongs to a group of very subjective concepts and difficult to use with precision. At first glance, the image of an extremely vile and despicable person seems straight out of a fairy tale, as if it were an antagonistic character who wants to subject the entire kingdom to his twisted will.
However, it is not necessary to reach fiction or the most horrendous cases of violence in newspapers to use this adjective. We are surrounded by evil, and we often support it, whether we are aware of it or not. On the other hand, this assessment goes hand in hand with an in principle simple question: is it possible to be "very good" or "very bad" ?
To answer it, let's look at the following two examples of good actions: a person rescues a badly injured bird and takes it into his home until it is completely cured; Another person brings food and water to an abandoned cat, but does not take it to live with her. Is it possible to rate the degree of goodness of each case? Both people show signs of compassion, so that should be enough to determine that "they are good." However, they surely have negative attitudes in their daily lives, and this makes the assessment of their morals more complex.
In the case of evil, it seems easier to classify two given cases: a person who mistreats an animal will surely be described as worse than someone who simply steals a mobile phone. However, shouldn't the evidence of their "badness" be enough to warn that neither of them is good? Obviously not, since human beings can reach terrifying levels of corruption and lack of empathy, and that is why it is necessary to have the adjective abject, to describe those whose actions cannot be justified in any way.