1
as in horrific
extremely disturbing or repellent
an atrocious crime that shocked even hardened members of the police force
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in terrible
extremely unsatisfactory
the picture quality on the pirated DVD was atrocious
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in brutal
having or showing the desire to inflict severe pain and suffering on others
the atrocious treatment of prisoners at the camps
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of atrocious
The weather was fairly atrocious for much of my road driving in the RS5, with a mix of rain and late May snow at altitude.
—
Jonathan M. Gitlin, ArsTechnica, 28 May 2026
And as engineer and tech investor Ben Pouladian told the WSJ, the vibes around Grok are atrocious.
—Joe Wilkins, Futurism, 14 May 2026
Reed’s victims relished a chance at payback when the writer tried his hand at acting in the atrocious 1970 film adaptation of Gore Vidal’s novel Myra Breckinridge.
—Greg Evans, Deadline, 12 May 2026
In other words, atrocious starts have ruined the Sox’s season before anyone had a chance to get excited.
—Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 29 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for atrocious
Jonathan M. Gitlin, ArsTechnica, 28 May 2026
And as engineer and tech investor Ben Pouladian told the WSJ, the vibes around Grok are atrocious.
—Joe Wilkins, Futurism, 14 May 2026
Reed’s victims relished a chance at payback when the writer tried his hand at acting in the atrocious 1970 film adaptation of Gore Vidal’s novel Myra Breckinridge.
—Greg Evans, Deadline, 12 May 2026
In other words, atrocious starts have ruined the Sox’s season before anyone had a chance to get excited.
—Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 29 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for atrocious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for atrocious
Adjective
-
What should have been a night of celebration and community reflection for Juneteenth was shattered by a horrific act of violence.—
Kelsie Cairns,
FOXNews.com,
22 June 2026
-
First of all, the suffering of the Iranian people has been horrific in the context of this unnecessary conflict.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
21 June 2026
Adjective
-
This is Conolly’s Folly, built in 1740 at the height of a terrible famine.—
Amelia Soth,
JSTOR Daily,
18 June 2026
-
The heroes who save us from these awful, terrible music haters do so with force.—
David John Chávez,
Mercury News,
18 June 2026
Adjective
-
His first strikeout was part of a brutal sequence.—
Maddie Lee,
Los Angeles Times,
20 June 2026
-
The injury is obviously a brutal blow to Canada's starting 11.—
Andrew Greif,
NBC news,
19 June 2026
Adjective
-
The historic victory, the nation’s first ever in the World Cup, was overshadowed when the midfielder injured his leg in gruesome fashion following a clumsy challenge from Qatar’s Assim Madibo.—
Ben Church,
CNN Money,
19 June 2026
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Men In Blazers Canada’s first-ever World Cup victory, a 6-0 demolition derby of Qatar, was overshadowed yesterday by a gruesome leg injury suffered by midfield maestro Ismaël Koné.—
Mark Hodge,
NBC news,
19 June 2026
Adjective
-
Iran’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad World Cup got a lot better Sunday.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
21 June 2026
-
What started as a horrible mistake ended up bringing the community together.—
Andrea Nakano,
CBS News,
18 June 2026
Adjective
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Passing a child who is unprepared may be the cruelest act of all.—
Harriette Cole,
Mercury News,
20 June 2026
-
This is your news to share or not share; posting about this on Facebook strikes me as cruel.—
Eric Thomas,
Sun Sentinel,
20 June 2026
Adjective
-
Deidre Hall delivered her most shocking slap yet on live TV on June 19.—
Lara Walsh,
InStyle,
20 June 2026
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Ahead of the episode, Raba spoke to the Star-Telegram about his journey playing this character and what’s next for Joaquin after the shocking reveal.—
Brayden Garcia,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
19 June 2026
Adjective
-
But their pitching staff has been disappointing to awful, and there's little help coming from the farm system.—
Ian Miller OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
18 June 2026
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In fact, this version of Louis sounds an awful lot like Lestat.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
16 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Atrocious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/atrocious. Accessed 23 Jun. 2026.
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