body horror

British

noun

a horror film genre in which the main feature is the graphically depicted destruction or degeneration of a human body or bodies

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

The DC universe is going full on body horror.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 22, 2026

Dave Franco and Alison Brie are married in real life, but in the body horror romance “Together,” they play an engaged couple named Tim and Millie who might be happier breaking up.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 18, 2025

There’s no nominated film this year as original as “The Substance,” and despite the film occasionally veering on a pastiche of other body horror commentaries, Fargeat’s confident screenplay sets the film apart from any comparison.

From Salon • Feb. 28, 2025

Demi Moore is nominated for best actress at the Oscars for her role in The Substance, a body horror which has revitalised her career.

From BBC • Feb. 26, 2025

The Substance is the first body horror to be nominated for best picture, and only the seventh horror overall.

From BBC • Feb. 24, 2025

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023