horror
[ hawr-er, hor- ]
/ ˈhɔr ər, ˈhɒr- /
noun
adjective
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.
interjection
horrors, (used as a mild expression of dismay, surprise, disappointment, etc.)
RELATED CONTENT
RELATED WORDS
dismay, consternation, fright, apprehension, dread, disgust, terror, awe, panic, hatred, abhorrence, repugnance, hate, alarm, antipathy, abomination, trepidation, aversion, detestation, monstrosity
Nearby words
- horrified,
- horrify,
- horrifying,
- horripilate,
- horripilation,
- horror show,
- horror story,
- horror-stricken,
- horror-struck,
- horrors
Origin of horror
1520–30; < Latin horror, equivalent to horr- (stem of horrēre to bristle with fear; see horrendous) + -or -or1; replacing Middle English orrour < Anglo-French < Latin horrōr-, stem of horror
SYNONYMS FOR horror
1. dread, dismay, consternation. See terror. 4. loathing, antipathy, detestation, hatred, abomination.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for horror
horror
/ (ˈhɒrə) /
noun
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 onea horror film
Word Origin for horror
C14: from Latin: a trembling with fear; compare hirsute
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
horror
early 14c., from Old French horror (12c., Modern French horreur) and directly from Latin horror "dread, veneration, religious awe," a figurative use, literally "a shaking, trembling, shudder, chill," from horrere "to bristle with fear, shudder," from PIE root *ghers- "to bristle" (cf. Sanskrit harsate "bristles," Avestan zarshayamna- "ruffling one's feathers," Latin eris (genitive) "hedgehog," Welsh garw "rough"). As a genre in film, 1934. Chamber of horrors originally (1849) was a gallery of notorious criminals in Madame Tussaud's wax exhibition.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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.