Hate vs. Despise

I don't find hate to be a very strong word. When I say I hate something you need to be paying attention to the tone of my voice to find out if I actually hate it or not. I have also found that hate and love are often to close together to tell the difference.
A word that I do not use often is despise. I rarely use despise. If I say I despise something it means so much more to me than hate. If I say I despise something it means that everything about it repulses every part of me. If I say I despise something it means that the thing I despise and I are completely antithetical.

I despise chauvinism.

The end

Joanna