horrendous
Americanadjective
adjective
Usage
What does horrendous mean? Horrendous is popularly used to mean extremely bad—awful, dreadful, or horrible. It can also mean literally causing horror—horrifying or horrific, as in horrendous violence. Example: If you’re wondering what cake tastes like when you accidentally use salt instead of sugar, it’s horrendous—completely disgusting and inedible.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of horrendous
1650–60; < Latin horrendus dreadful, to be feared (gerund of horrēre to bristle, shudder), equivalent to horr- (akin to hirsute ) + -endus gerund suffix
Explanation
Bad luck, an injury, a mistake, an unfortunate outfit, or a crime — anything can be called horrendous if it causes such dread or fear that you can barely even think about it. If you’ve ever encountered something horrendous, you won’t be surprised to learn that the word traces back to the Latin word horrere, meaning "to bristle with fear, shudder." That’s a good way to think about horrendous things — they cause you to shudder. You can use the word to describe any type of thing — people, ideas, actions, and so on — but save it for those things that are not merely bad but instead are truly horrifying.
Vocabulary lists containing horrendous
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
David Rees, the Aberavon MS, whose constituency includes Port Talbot, wrote on X, formerly Twitter: "Terrible conditions tonight. Everyone take care & stay safe. Horrendous flooding seen in parts of the constituency."
From BBC • Sep. 6, 2024
“Losing sucks. It sucks this way even more. Horrendous second half,” Allen said.
From Washington Times • Nov. 13, 2022
Horrendous road closures to fix said roads cause another.
From Slate • Jun. 26, 2018
Horrendous reviews may have contributed to the decline; the first weekend for “Fifty Shades of Grey” also happened to include Valentine’s Day, skewing comparisons.
From New York Times • Feb. 12, 2017
‘A Horrendous Sector’ The reaction to Pandora’s terrestrial radio purchase was swift.
From Forbes • Aug. 15, 2013
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
