What Does Deplorable Mean? Definition Of Hillary Clinton’s Gaffe About Donald Trump Supporters

Never heard of the word deplorable before Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton used it to describe half of Donald Trump’s followers? You might not be the only one. The former secretary of state used the term back in September, and it was thrust into the forefront during the second debate Sunday night at Washington University in St. Louis.

When Trump was asked by an audience member if he would be a “devoted president” for all Americans, he said vigorously that he could be. Then, he attacked Clinton for her now infamous deplorable statement. “She calls our people ‘deplorable,’ a large group, and irredeemable,” he said.

But not everyone knows what deplorable means. Google searches for the word spiked during the debate and "deplorables defintion" and "deplorables meaning" became trending search topics.

For those who are unsure, Merriam-Webster defines deplorable in the following way: “Very bad in a way that causes shock, fear, or disgust: deserving to be deplored” and “deserving censure or contempt.” Synonyms for the word deplorable are: disgraceful, shameful, dishonorable, unworthy, inexcusable, unpardonable, unforgivable and wretched.

Clinton made the remarks at an LGBT for Hillary fundraiser in New York. “You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the ‘basket of deplorables.’ Right?” Clinton said. “The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic — you name it.”

She continued: “He has given voice to their websites that used to only have 11,000 people — now have 11 million. He tweets and retweets their offensive, hateful, mean-spirited rhetoric."

Clinton has since apologized. “That was wrong,” Clinton said in a statement last month. “But let’s be clear, what’s really ‘deplorable’ is that Donald Trump hired a major advocate for the so-called ‘alt-right’ movement to run his campaign and that David Duke and other white supremacists see him as a champion of their values.” Duke is an American white nationalist and former leader of the Ku Klux Klan.

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