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.
"One day some of the raw emotions might die down, but it was just a horrible summer."
From BBC
Franz Kafka’s novella “The Metamorphosis” asks: What if, overnight, you became “a horrible vermin”—a creature among the most repellent ever to crawl the earth?
It was a horrible thing to say, I know.
From Literature
However, event organizers said, “you may focus on any of the horrible policies or events that you feel strongly about.”
From Los Angeles Times
In 2024, Mr Cottrell said he had been faced with a "horrible and intolerable situation" regarding David Tudor, that he "lived with every day".
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.
