horrify
Americanverb
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to cause feelings of horror in; terrify; frighten
-
to dismay or shock greatly
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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horrifysimple
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horrifiessimple
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have horrifiedperfect
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has horrifiedperfect
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am horrifyingprogressive
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are horrifyingprogressive
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is horrifyingprogressive
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have been horrifyingperfect progressive
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has been horrifyingperfect progressive
Past
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horrifiedsimple
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had horrifiedperfect
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was horrifyingprogressive
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were horrifyingprogressive
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had been horrifyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of horrify
1785–95; < Latin horrificāre to cause horror, equivalent to horri- (combining form of horrēre to bristle with fear; see horrendous) + -ficāre -fy
Explanation
To horrify is to cause someone to feel shocked and disturbed. It may horrify your parents if you announce that you're dropping out of school to become a professional clown. Things that horrify you fill you with terror, shock, or disgust. It would horrify you to run into a vampire on a dark city streets, and it would also horrify you to be served raw hamburger for lunch. The emotion that arises when something horrifies you is horror, a word that's the same in Latin, with the literal meaning "a shaking, a trembling, or a shudder."
Vocabulary lists containing horrify
List 7
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Stuart Little
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Lawn Boy
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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.
See Examples For:
More than four decades after it first crept onto movie screens, “Alien” remains one of the scariest films ever made, with scenes that continue to horrify and shock even after repeated viewings.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2025
The idea of giving peanut butter to babies and young children will horrify a generation of parents who were told to avoid the foodstuff due to the fear of allergies.
From BBC ● May 28, 2024
But it is just this demand—- the requirement that citizens find ways to navigate a social world which will, necessarily, often baffle and horrify them—- that liberal societies must impose.
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2023
But just as his irreverent novels dismay some adults, the tadpoles produce comics — all acted out hilariously onstage — that horrify their adoptive father.
From New York Times ● Aug. 3, 2023
Such things did not appear to horrify her.
From "1984" by George Orwell
If that continues it would be able to raise billions, a prospect that horrifies Gulf Arab states.
From BBC ● Apr. 9, 2026
“All those dissidents going into Lefortovo — the name horrifies you,” she said in an interview with ABC’s “Nightline” that aired early on Wednesday.
From New York Times ● Jul. 12, 2023
Each new one horrifies, and yet fits into a depressingly familiar pattern.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 27, 2022
And it leads to Erin and Michelle having a big argument: Michelle wants her brother to come home, which horrifies Erin.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2022
The thought of spending whatever remains of my life in this stone vault horrifies me.
From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
“I’m a recruiter and I set a candidate up with a hiring manager and she took the Zoom interview from her bed,” said another, apparently horrified, commenter.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he was "truly horrified" by Widdecombe's death, adding: "We must do more to defend our democracy."
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
The adults, hearing our incessant laughter, came into the room, instantly became horrified and confiscated the game.
From Salon ● Jul. 13, 2026
“I am horrified by people who say, ‘We only have to put air conditioning everywhere,’” Monqiue Barbut, France’s climate minister, said last week during the peak of the heat wave.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
Nine stuck his fist in his corn-yellow teeth, horrified.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
As Ms. Du Feng shows us, the prospect is horrifying.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026
Al Otro Lado is another truly horrifying decision with, again, Sam Alito writing for the six.
From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2026
Videos show horrifying, but now predictable, images of entire blocks flattened and basic infrastructure in shambles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026
At the time, Hilton shared the devastating news on Instagram, revealing that she had been watching live news coverage when she saw the horrifying flames consume her own house.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 24, 2026
It made sense, but it didn’t make it any less horrifying.
From "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken
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.
