horrible

1 of 2

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

horribleness

2 of 2

noun

hor·​ri·​ble·​ness

plural -es

: the quality or state of being horrible

Synonyms of horrible

Adjective

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

Examples of horrible in a Sentence

Adjective

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

Adjective

Much has been written about the power of artificial intelligence to improve life in myriad ways, but also about its truly horrible effects—now and going forward—if it isn’t managed properly. — Nadine Hack, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2026

But the horrible scenes that unfolded before him were incomparable. — Los Angeles Times, 10 Sep. 2026

Hold ratings for SoFi , Upstart , and Klarna , which has been a particularly horrible stock since last year's debut. — Jim Cramer, CNBC, 9 Sep. 2026

The first is that the scourge of terrorism has been a horrible piece of our history for the past, really, 50 years. — Dana Taylor, USA Today, 9 Sep. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

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

Noun

Middle English orriblenesse, horriblenesse, from orrible, horrible + -nesse -ness

First Known Use

Adjective

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