horrible

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

Synonyms of horrible

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

Examples of horrible in a Sentence

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

Your cab driver is taking you on a horrible route. —Zach Schiffman, Curbed, 24 Apr. 2026

There’s enough cop shows, stories about how horrible the world is, enough plot lines that are similar to each other. —Annika Pham, Variety, 24 Apr. 2026

In the 49 shorts starring Wile, the Acme products tended to backfire and malfunction in horrible and often humiliating ways. —Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 22 Apr. 2026

On that horrible day, Dad was outside his vehicle supervising a ditch cleaning operation when a driver ignored traffic control devices, drove through a closed lane, and struck him, pinning him between two vehicles. —Allysson Bornt, New York Daily News, 19 Apr. 2026

Word History

Etymology

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

First Known Use

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