dismay, appall, horrify, daunt mean to unnerve or deter by arousing fear, apprehension, or aversion.
dismay implies that one is disconcerted and at a loss as to how to deal with something.
dismayed at the size of the job
appall implies that one is faced with that which perturbs, confounds, or shocks.
I am appalled by your behavior
horrify stresses a reaction of horror or revulsion.
was horrified by such wanton cruelty
daunt suggests a cowing, disheartening, or frightening in a venture requiring courage.
a cliff that would daunt the most intrepid climber
Examples of horrify in a Sentence
The details of the crime horrified the nation.
They were horrified by the movie's violence.
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Maia’s horrified to realize that the bag was stolen; Tallulah’s mostly just annoyed she got caught.—Caroline Framke, Vulture, 10 Nov. 2025 The people who owned the land were horrified to think of our sleeping outside in the cold.—Judith Martin, Mercury News, 8 Nov. 2025 Bell then takes his own clear straw and puts it in Peck’s mouth, syphoning off coffee as Peck looks horrified.—Victoria Edel, PEOPLE, 5 Nov. 2025 With much of the world horrified by the USSR’s brutality, Eisenhower was furious that the British-French-Israeli offensive was both diverting international attention and handing Moscow a PR victory by enabling it to speak about Western aggression in the Middle East.—Literary Hub, 3 Nov. 2025 See All Example Sentences for horrify
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