Deserving hatred and contempt; morally reprehensible and worthy of scorn.
From Latin despicabilis, formed from despicere (de- 'down' + specere 'to look') + -abilis (able to be), meaning 'able to be looked down upon.' The word passed through Old French despicable into Middle English, retaining its sense of moral condemnation.
Despicable takes the concept of 'looking down' from 'despise' and makes it a permanent quality - it describes someone so morally low that they deserve to be looked down upon by everyone! Compare this with 'respectable' (worthy of being looked at again with regard) - both words show how our ancestors encoded social judgment directly into vision metaphors.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.