appalled

adjective

ap·​palled ə-ˈpȯld 

: affected by strong feelings of shock and dismay

… the Allied commanders were appalled to learn that 300 glider troops had drowned at sea.

—Kathleen McAuliffe

I was amazed, impressed, appalled, touched, embarrassed. Most of all, I was mad as hell.

—Ken Kesey

Straightway, he now goes on to make a full confession; whereupon the mariners became more and more appalled …

—Herman Melville

Examples of appalled in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The hacker was so appalled by the materials, which appeared to contain child abuse images, that the intruder left a message threatening to turn over the evidence to the FBI. —Andy Greenberg, Wired News, 14 Mar. 2026

The unconscionable treatment of maids in Alma’s era finds uncomfortable parallels in the 1980s, when Angelika is both appalled and intrigued by the leering looks of her uncle Uwe (Konstantin Lindhorst). —Los Angeles Times, 23 Jan. 2026

And part of me is a little appalled by that. —Ben Smith, semafor.com, 9 Jan. 2026

Coogan said, sounding less appalled than giddy at the figure. —Julia Black, Vanity Fair, 8 Jan. 2026

Word History

Etymology

from past participle of appall

First Known Use

1609, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for appalled

• overhauled
• reinstalled
• auld
• bald
• balled
• bawled
• called
• crawled
• drawled
• galled
• hauled
• lolled