horrible
Americanadjective
-
causing or tending to cause horror; shockingly dreadful.
a horrible sight.
- Synonyms:
- repellent, horrendous, horrid, repulsive, revolting, shocking, ghastly, grim, hideous, frightful, appalling, awful, terrible
- Antonyms:
- attractive
-
extremely unpleasant; deplorable; disgusting.
horrible living conditions.
adjective
-
causing horror; dreadful
-
disagreeable; unpleasant
-
informal cruel or unkind
Usage
What does horrible mean? Horrible is popularly used to mean extremely bad—awful, dreadful, or horrendous.When it’s used to describe a person, it often means extremely disagreeable or cruel.Much less commonly, it can mean literally causing horror—horrifying or horrific.Example: Everyone seems to like that restaurant, but I had a horrible experience there—bad food and even worse service.
Other Word Forms
- horribleness noun
- horribly adverb
Etymology
Origin of horrible
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English (h)orrible, from Old French, from Latin horribilis, equivalent to horr(ēre) “to stand on end, bristle with fear” + -ibilis -ible
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.
"Those kind of interactions happen to every woman I know," she says, but thinking that those conversations could be filmed and posted online "is horrible and scary".
From BBC
"I thought it was going to be horrible, because they usually are – but the next morning, I played it while I was in the shower, and I was like, 'Oh, this is sick'."
From BBC
But that doesn’t make the horrible deaths any less tragic.
But, of course, what it actually involved is this horrible tragedy.
From BBC
Emma said it was a "horrible thought" to have had her baby growing while she had cancer, adding that the second diagnosis felt different because she now had children "relying on me to be alive".
From BBC
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.
