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
- horrendously adverb
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
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.
Rams coach Sean McVay, West Coast area scout Vito Gonella and director of scouting strategy James Gladstone identified Nacua as a must-have addition to a team coming off a horrendous 2022 Super Bowl hangover.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 2, 2026
"They were monsters...their questions were horrendous," he said.
From BBC • Mar. 30, 2026
Anne Marie also said that having to go through the court process and see McInnes' face again was "horrendous".
From BBC • Mar. 30, 2026
“We took out a horrendous, horrible leader who was oppressing his own people,” Jost said.
From Salon • Mar. 1, 2026
After that little bit of peacefulness with Emma: another horrendous Nye session.
From "Burning Blue" by Paul Griffin
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.
