horror
an overwhelming and painful feeling caused by something frightfully shocking, terrifying, or revolting; a shuddering fear: to shrink back from a mutilated corpse in horror.
anything that causes such a feeling: killing, looting, and other horrors of war.
such a feeling as a quality or condition: to have known the horror of slow starvation.
a strong aversion; abhorrence: to have a horror of emotional outbursts.
Informal. something considered bad or tasteless: That wallpaper is a horror. The party was a horror.
horrors, Informal.
extreme depression.
inspiring or creating horror, loathing, aversion, etc.: The hostages told horror stories of their year in captivity.
centered upon or depicting terrifying or macabre events: a horror movie.
horrors, (used as a mild expression of dismay, surprise, disappointment, etc.)
Origin of horror
1synonym study For horror
Other words for horror
Opposites for horror
Words Nearby horror
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use horror in a sentence
Simon Pegg and Nick Frost play ghost hunters in the new Amazon Prime horror comedy Truth Seekers.
Here’s the trailer, release date for Simon Pegg/Nick Frost sitcom Truth Seekers | Jennifer Ouellette | September 24, 2020 | Ars TechnicaLiz Howard, an attorney with the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice who worked as a senior election official in Virginia, has her own horror story to tell.
Tasha Zemke, copy editor I’m loving HBO’s horror series Lovecraft Country.
In late October, you’ll get back-to-back tastes of horror-focused streamers Screambox and Shudder.
Want a year of free streaming services? This guide has you covered | dzanemorris | August 26, 2020 | FortuneIf you’re like most people, you probably thought you nailed it on the first take only to listen in horror as you “umm” and “ahh” your way to the end.
Top five tips to use Twitter’s new Voice Tweets feature | David Ciccarelli | August 25, 2020 | Search Engine Watch
In the end, the clarity that comes from moments of horror can help us recommit to deeper principles.
“Internationally there has been a lot of horror and contempt for her actions, domestically very little,” he said.
Sisi Is Persecuting, Prosecuting, and Publicly Shaming Egypt’s Gays | Bel Trew | December 30, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAll of us can readily conjure up horror scenarios by the isolated person acting badly.
Sabrine says that despite the private horror of what she was going through, she was too ashamed to tell her family.
A Sunni-Shia Love Story Imperiled by al Qaeda | Ruth Michaelson | December 26, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTBut Kent will not let us off the familiar horror hook so easily.
The king was struck with horror at the description I had given him of those terrible engines, and the proposal I had made.
Gulliver's Travels | Jonathan SwiftBut all you can think of are the horror stories about the worn out genes of Earth.
Sense of Obligation | Henry Maxwell Dempsey (AKA Harry Harrison)With horror she had heard her brother addressed by a disreputable costermonger in a mangy fur cap, as "Old pal."
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3) | Charles James WillsAnd then she thought with horror of the confidence she had made to old Mrs. Wurzel and the brewer's daughter, not an hour before.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3) | Charles James WillsShe craned forward, the smile gone from her lips, a horror in her eyes, her bosom heaving.
St. Martin's Summer | Rafael Sabatini
British Dictionary definitions for horror
/ (ˈhɒrə) /
extreme fear; terror; dread
intense loathing; hatred
(often plural) a thing or person causing fear, loathing, etc
(modifier) having a frightening subject, esp a supernatural one: a horror film
Origin of horror
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with horror
see under throw up one's hands.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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