horrid

[ hawr-id, hor- ]

/ ˈhɔr ɪd, ˈhɒr- /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR horrid ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

such as to cause horror; shockingly dreadful; abominable.

extremely unpleasant or disagreeable: horrid weather; She thought her uncle was horrid.

Archaic. shaggy or bristling; rough.

Nearby words

Origin of horrid

1580–90; < Latin horridus bristling, rough, equivalent to horr- (stem of horrēre to stand on end, bristle) + -idus -id⁴

SYNONYMS FOR horrid

2 nasty, vile, odious, abominable.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR horrid ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formshor·rid·ly, adverbhor·rid·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for horrid

Removing choice is bullying and seems a horrid basis on which to anchor your relationship.
Public Marriage Proposals Must Die|Tauriq Moosa|December 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
This world is a horrid cancer that no decent soul should ever partake from.
Is This The Most Hated Man in Books?: Twitter vs. Edward Champion|Brandy Zadrozny|September 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And bringing this home for all was the horrid beheading of American journalist James Foley.
Summer 2014 Was the Worst Ever|Dean Obeidallah|August 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The state likely will lead in the countervailing lawsuits when (insert a horrid disease here) is found to be linked to e-puffing.
Big Tobacco, Not MRSA, Is the Real Problem With E-Cigarettes|Kent Sepkowitz|May 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Revisit that horrid 1997 Psycho redo, or the misguided ABC miniseries version of The Shining that came out the same year.
‘Rosemary’s Baby’: How NBC Gave Birth to a New Version of Roman Polanski’s Horror Classic|Kevin Fallon|May 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Ghastly images are before us and around us, the mystic symbols of a horrid religion!
The Scalp Hunters|Mayne Reid
The agony of her spirit, involved in endless and horrid labyrinths of doubt, is powerfully portrayed.
The Life of Friedrich Schiller|Thomas Carlyle
But December rain has a strange, horrid quality of chilly persistence.
Buried Alive: A Tale of These Days|Arnold Bennett
And the horrid woman grinned at him as she repeated his words.
The Claverings|Anthony Trollope
I am sure it will fall, and there will be a horrid accident.
King of the Air|Herbert Strang

British Dictionary definitions for horrid

horrid

/ (ˈhɒrɪd) /

adjective

disagreeable; unpleasanta horrid meal

repulsive or frightening

informal unkind

Derived Formshorridly, adverbhorridness, noun

Word Origin for horrid

C16 (in the sense: bristling, shaggy): from Latin horridus prickly, rough, from horrēre to bristle

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for horrid

horrid

adj.

early 15c., "hairy, shaggy, bristling," from Latin horridus "bristly, prickly, rough, horrid, frightful," from horrere "to bristle with fear, shudder" (see horror). Meaning "horrible, causing horror" is from c.1600. Sense weakened 17c. to "unpleasant, offensive."

[W]hile both [horrible and horrid] are much used in the trivial sense of disagreeable, horrible is still quite common in the graver sense inspiring horror, which horrid tends to lose .... [Fowler]

Related: Horridly.

horrid

adjective

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of horrid

Examples from the Web for horrid

British Dictionary definitions for horrid

horrid

adjective

Word Origin for horrid

Word Origin and History for horrid

horrid