horror

1 of 2

noun

hor·​ror ˈhȯr-ər 

ˈhär-

1

a

: painful and intense fear, dread, or dismay

astonishment giving place to horror on the faces of the people about me

—H. G. Wells

b

: intense aversion or repugnance

2

a

: the quality of inspiring horror : repulsive, horrible, or dismal quality or character

contemplating the horror of their lives

—Liam O'Flaherty

b

: something that inspires horror

3

horrors plural : a state of extreme depression or apprehension

horror

2 of 2

adjective

: calculated to inspire feelings of dread or horror

a horror movie

Synonyms

Noun

• dreadfulness
• atrocity
• frightfulness
• awfulness
• gruesomeness
• ghastliness

Examples of horror in a Sentence

Noun

There was a look of horror on her face.

The crowd watched in horror as the fire spread.

His friends were shocked by the horror of his death.

His crimes were unspeakable horrors.

His memoirs recount the horrors of the war.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Selbak was unsure if anyone would want to check out a Palestinian horror script reading following the tragedy, but after some thought, decided to move forward, and found support at the film market a few weeks later. —Aaron Couch, HollywoodReporter, 24 Oct. 2025

Today, thousands cross seas and deserts daily, escaping war, hunger, and horror. —Callum McLennan, Variety, 24 Oct. 2025

Adjective

For me, noir is the horror fiction of the crime genre, in which the main characters constantly make things worse for themselves in a claustrophobic, ever-tightening spiral of doom. —Erik Pedersen, Oc Register, 19 Sep. 2025

Everything about this year's The Toxic Avenger is about flipping the script, including on superheroes and the horror genre itself. —EW.com, 30 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English orrour, horrour, borrowed from Anglo-French horrour, horrur, borrowed from Latin horrōr-, horror "standing stiffly, bristling (of hair), shivering (from cold or fear), dread, consternation," derivative with the abstract noun suffix -ōr- (going back to *-ōs-) from the base of horrēre "to be stiffly erect, bristle (of hair, weapons, plants), shudder, shiver," going back to Indo-European *ǵ^hors-éi̯e-, iterative derivative of a stem *ǵ^hers- "bristle, become stiff," whence also Sanskrit hṛṣyati "(it) stands on end (of hair, from fear or joy), (s/he) rejoices"

Note: According to Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben (2. Auflage, Wiesbaden, 2001) this base has fallen together with another base, *g^(w)hers- "rejoice," in Vedic, and the outcomes are no longer completely distinguishable; the Lexikon attributes to the latter base Vedic hárṣate "rejoices, is excited," ghṛ́ṣuḥ, ghṛ́ṣvih "lively, wanton," as well as Parthian gš- "be cheerful," Sogdian w-γš- "rejoice." Michiel de Vaan (Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the Other Italic Languages, Brill, 2008) posits a single base and assumes for ghṛ́ṣuḥ, ghṛ́ṣvih loss of palatal quality in zero grade. Earlier etymological dictionaries, as Pokorny, connect with *ǵ^hers- and an unextended form *ǵ^her- a wide variety of nominal forms (cf. gorse, orgeat, hirsute, urchin).

Adjective

from attributive use of horror entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Adjective

1936, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing horror

• have a horror of
• horror of horrors
• horror show
• horror story
• horror-struck
• shock horror
• to someone's horror

Rhymes for horror

• borer
• corer
• maurer
• scorer
• storer
• explorer
• restorer

Kids Definition

horror

noun

hor·​ror

ˈhȯr-ər,

ˈhär-

1

: strong fear, dread, or dislike

2

: the quality of inspiring horror

3

: something horrible

horror adjective

Medical Definition

horror

noun

hor·​ror ˈhȯr-ər, ˈhär- 

: painful and intense fear, dread, or dismay