atrocious

adjective atro·cious \ ə-ˈtrō-shəs \

|Updated on: 13 Aug 2018

Examples: atrocious in a Sentence

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

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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

These are the top 10 kinds of awful out there, though some particularly atrocious humans seem to check off nearly every box on the list.

— alyssa fiorentino, House Beautiful, "The 10 Worst Roommates Everyone Lives With At Some Point," 10 July 2018
The case has shed light on Sudan’s atrocious record on women’s rights.

— farid y. farid, Teen Vogue, "Noura Hussein Filed for an Appeal to Repeal Her Death Sentence and to Be Pardoned for Killing Her Rapist," 20 June 2018
Besides enduring treacherous journeys to America’s farms and slaughterhouses, foreign workers are also subjected to atrocious working conditions, suffering in secret.

— gene baur, Fortune, "Immigrant Farm Workers Endure Inhumane Conditions. Here’s What We Can Do," 8 June 2018
This being San Francisco, parking is atrocious, but fortunately, the festival partners with Everett Middle School, which has a sizable lot on 17th Street between Church and Sanchez.

— david lewis, San Francisco Chronicle, "A day of fun at the Frameline film festival," 6 June 2018
Everything went wrong in an atrocious second inning, in which the SeaWolves scored seven runs on seven hits and two errors.

— christopher hanna, courant.com, "Keeping Up With The Yard Goats: Schaeffer Not Worried About Recent Struggles, Rodgers On A Roll," 13 June 2018
The eighth inning was a remedy, a four-run frame against the two most competent pitchers — Miller and closer Cody Allen — in an otherwise atrocious Indians bullpen that gagged a game its team led 2-0 entering the eighth inning.

— chandler rome, Houston Chronicle, "Astros rally to bludgeon Indians' bullpen," 25 May 2018
But their lottery odds are so atrocious that a few wins to end their season won’t make much of a dent in their nearly hopeless chances of securing the top overall pick.

— josh robbins, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Magic clobbered by Hornets 137-100," 7 Apr. 2018
Apple Music’s search is particularly atrocious, and Spotify’s search engine found no matches for my Drake query.

— micah singleton, The Verge, "YouTube Music finally gets it right," 25 May 2018

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.