disgusting
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- disgustingly adjective
- disgustingness noun
Etymology
Origin of disgusting
Explanation
Something disgusting is awful in a way that makes you want to throw up — it's really, really yucky. Nobody likes disgusting things. Stepping in dog poo is disgusting — in other words, revolting and gross. Some people think spiders are disgusting; others find meatloaf disgusting; it just depends on what your tastes and tolerances are. If a politician is caught taking bribes, people say "That behavior is disgusting!" If your favorite team loses 20 games in a row, that might seem disgusting. Pretty much anything horrible, terrible, or nasty can be called disgusting.
Vocabulary lists containing disgusting
Ugh! Synonyms for "Gross"
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Ugh! Synonyms for "Gross"
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So Bad: Synonyms for "Awful"
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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.
Another described the move as "disgusting" and said "prices should be going down not up this late into the generation" of the console.
From BBC • Mar. 27, 2026
Their favorite move is a gasp-laugh, as when they flash a gruesome image on screen that’s so disgusting you can’t help but giggle.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 19, 2026
"It's been disgusting," resident Roger Young told national broadcaster RNZ.
From Barron's • Feb. 25, 2026
“My wife and I decided that I will never be in the room with that disgusting person ever again,” Lutnick said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 10, 2026
And so it was that Clare, who had only moments before been speaking as a great Usher, was suddenly exposed for what he really was—a disgusting undead creature.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
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.
