horrible

[hawr-uh-buhl, hor-]

adjective

1. 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

2. extremely unpleasant; deplorable; disgusting.

   horrible living conditions.

horrible

/ ˈhɒrəbəl /

adjective

1. causing horror; dreadful

2. disagreeable; unpleasant

3. informal,  cruel or unkind

Other Word Forms

• horribleness noun
• horribly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of horrible¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of horrible¹

C14: via Old French from Latin horribilis, from horrēre to tremble

Example Sentences

Nobody really thought this would turn into such a horrible experience, but they spoke about the possibility nonetheless, teased themselves with the potential horror of it all.

Read more on BBC

In a cruel twist, the Ravens are horrible on defense, typically Baltimore’s strong suit, and not just because they had to replace five injured defensive starters with rookies last week.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“You need to look at people who are saying horrible things. And they shouldn’t be working with you,” she said.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

That is the makings of a bad habit—a fast-track to chewing tobacco, which is directly linked to oral squamous cell carcinoma, a horrible disease.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“That was a quote from a poem I wrote to a horrible man I’ve never met before,” he said.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• abhorrent 
• abominable 
• appalling 
• awful 
• cruel 
• disgusting 
• dreadful 
• eerie 
• frightful 
• ghastly 
• grim 
• grisly 
• gruesome 
• heinous 
• hideous 
• horrendous 
• horrid 
• lousy 
• nasty 
• scandalous 

When To Use

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.