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.
"When I first got it, it was horrendous... the worst pain ever," she said.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
"He was always a kind soul, and to die in such a horrendous way - it's just so unfair."
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
"I feel like a lot of years that I played here, I played horrendous," Kostyuk said.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
McHale’s character is horrendous to such a degree that some who watched the first two seasons of “The Bear” theorized he didn’t exist, that he was merely a figment of Carmy’s lowest insecurities.
From Salon ● Jul. 3, 2024
“I’m willing to put your horrendous behavior at the fountain behind us in the interest of starting off fresh.”
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
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.
