horrible

adjective

hor·​ri·​ble ˈhȯr-ə-bəl 

ˈhär-

1

: marked by or arousing painful and intense fear, dread, dismay, or aversion : marked by or arousing horror

a horrible accident

2

: extremely bad or unpleasant

a horrible mistake

horrible food

horrible noun

horribleness noun

horribly

ˈhȯr-ə-blē 

ˈhär-

adverb

Synonyms of horrible

• horrific
• gruesome
• terrible
• shocking
• nightmare
• awful

Examples of horrible in a Sentence

He suffered a horrible death.

The crime scene was too horrible to describe.

The team had a horrible season last year.

He realized that he had made a horrible mistake.

Recent Examples on the Web

And obviously, slavery was a terrible thing, and that was horrible. — Hanna Rosin, The Atlantic, 2 July 2026

Horton, who married Rickman in 2012 in a private ceremony after more than 40 years together, also told the outlet that the diagnosis had been a horrible shock to them both. — Gillian Telling, PEOPLE, 29 June 2026

The Red Sox offense has been horrible this season, but Contreras has been everything the club could have hoped for. — Mac Cerullo, Hartford Courant, 28 June 2026

Your cab driver is taking you on a horrible route. — Zach Schiffman, Curbed, 26 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English orible, horrible, borrowed from Anglo-French, borrowed from Latin horribilis, from horrēre "to be stiffly erect, bristle (of hair, weapons, plants), shudder, shiver" + -ibilis "capable of exhibiting or causing (the action of the verb)" — more at horror entry 1, -able

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for horrible

• adorable
• deplorable
• storable

Kids Definition

horrible

adjective

hor·​ri·​ble ˈhȯr-ə-bəl 

ˈhär-

1

: marked by or arousing horror

2

: extremely unpleasant or bad

horrible food

horribly

-blē 

adverb