atrocious

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adjective atro·cious \ ə-ˈtrō-shəs \

Definition of atrocious

1 :extremely wicked, brutal, or cruel :barbaric

prisoners subjected to atrocious treatment

2 :appalling, horrifying

the atrocious weapons of modern war

an atrocious accident

3 a :utterly revolting :abominable

atrocious working conditions

atrocious weather

b :of very poor quality

atrocious handwriting

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atrociously

adverb

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atrociousness

noun

See atrocious defined for English-language learners

See atrocious defined for kids

Examples of atrocious in a Sentence

… much of the manufactured-home industry employed sales practices that were atrocious. The need for meaningful down payments was frequently ignored. Sometimes fakery was involved. Moreover, impossible-to-meet monthly payments were being agreed to by borrowers who signed up because they had nothing to lose. —Warren E. Buffett, Newsweek, 9 Mar. 2009
In the hands of a succession of more or less sadistic colonial governors and prison officers, convicts, particularly repeat offenders, found themselves subjected to atrocious punishments, flogged, committed to chain gangs, kept in underground pits, starved, and bullied. —Caroline Moorehead, New York Review of Books, 16 Nov. 2006
It would seem that by now the Tigers might be weary of analyzing their roller-coaster season, sick of reliving their atrocious 9-23 start and comparing it with their recent hot streak. —Sports Illustrated, 4 Sept. 2000
an atrocious period in the nation's history
an atrocious crime that shocked even hardened members of the police force

Recent Examples of atrocious from the Web

The atrocious acting in this film certainly did nothing to get residents on their feet.

— chris ball, cleveland.com, "Bryan Cranston in 'Wakefield,' now on DVD and Blu-ray (review)," 30 Aug. 2017
To obtain a death sentence, prosecutors also must show the crime was extremely heinous, atrocious and cruel as compared to other murder cases.

— ashley remkus, AL.com, "Death penalty won't be sought if Decatur man convicted of gunning down ex-wife at bakery," 23 Aug. 2017
People have made clear how atrocious these events were.

— maggie mallon, Glamour, "Elizabeth Sines and Leanne Chia Were in Charlottesville When White Supremacists Descended—This Is What They Saw," 18 Aug. 2017
To make matters worse was the way host Jimmy Kimmel handled it all which was, in a word, atrocious.

— luke kerr-dineen, USA TODAY, "Mayweather gives sexist Jimmy Kimmel interview," 16 Aug. 2017
Mobile is unreliable and the throughput especially for uploading is atrocious.

— jon brodkin, Ars Technica, "FCC faces backlash for saying Americans might not need fast home Internet," 11 Aug. 2017
This may be the point that racist violence reduces its victims to an atrocious nothingness.

— peter rainer, The Christian Science Monitor, "In 'Detroit,' atrocity becomes numbing," 4 Aug. 2017
This is the main cause of the atrocious air pollution that plagues Ulaanbaatar each winter.

— The Economist, "Herd on the streetVillas v yurts in Mongolia," 13 July 2017
That’s an unproductive conversation because the fundamental problem is the normalization of atrocious behavior that makes room for a wide range of inappropriate actions.

— adam lashinsky, Fortune, "Data Sheet—Thursday, July 6, 2017," 6 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'atrocious.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.