horror

1 of 2

noun

hor·​ror ˈhȯr-ər How to pronounce horror (audio)
ˈhär-
1
a
: painful and intense fear, dread, or dismay
astonishment giving place to horror on the faces of the people about meH. 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 livesLiam 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

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
For the Los Angeles premiere of her upcoming horror movie Immaculate, Sweeney went for a sculptural effect in a 3D floral top and manicure to match. Kara Nesvig, Allure, 18 Mar. 2024 The Montréal defense could only watch in horror as Acosta’s effort – intended as a pass – swerved in the air and looped over goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois to give Chicago the unlikeliest of wins in the 90+9th minute. Sam Joseph, CNN, 17 Mar. 2024 After two weeks of release, the movie — a horror film about a woman who is tormented by her old teddy bear named Chauncey — has earned $19 million. Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 17 Mar. 2024 But the ride in Goodyear ended unlike any other, in horror and heartbreak. The Arizona Republic, 16 Mar. 2024 In 1996, The Times reviewed the horror film that launched the franchise. Summer Lin, Los Angeles Times, 13 Mar. 2024 These two cinephiles soon develop a romance right out of a (horror) movie. Samantha Highfill, EW.com, 6 Mar. 2024 Kirsten Dunst-starring A24 psychological horror Woodshock, which they were partly inspired to make after working on costumes for Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan. Liam Hess, Vogue, 6 Mar. 2024 But viewers never see the unspeakable horrors taking place just on the other side of the garden wall. Harmeet Kaur, CNN, 5 Mar. 2024
Adjective
Additionally, while other movie franchises have begun to lose steam, Warner Bros said The Nun II (the 6th film in The Conjuring universe) crossed $250 million in the global box office, making the series the highest-grossing in the horror genre of all time. Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 15 Feb. 2024 Horror Express, which was shot in Madrid, feels like the work of a director who was a fan of the horror genre and wished to elevate the material beyond pure camp. Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 16 Oct. 2023 The streamer then greenlit a second season (coming out before the end of the year) and a third season of the horror apocalypse drama. Kayti Burt, Rolling Stone, 13 Nov. 2023 While Psycho is arguably well-known by both horror and non-horror fans alike, the same can't be said Peeping Tom. Stacey Grant, Seventeen, 28 Oct. 2022 Matt Tolmach producing 'Morbius' Matt Tolmach, a lacrosse star during his days at Beloit College and former co-head of production at Sony Pictures, was one of the producers of this horror-ish side project from the Spider-Man cinematic universe. Chris Foran, Journal Sentinel, 29 Dec. 2022 And in no way suggestive of future scifi-horror movies. Veronique Greenwood, Discover Magazine, 8 Sep. 2011 Over the course of the collection Chung dabbles in science fiction, fantasy, fable and horror. Noah Berlatsky, Los Angeles Times, 9 Dec. 2022 From the creators of Dark, an intriguing period mystery/horror German series called 1899. Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 6 June 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'horror.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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-Europeanhors-éi̯e-, iterative derivative of a stem 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 hers- and an unextended form 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

Time Traveler
The first known use of horror was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near horror

Cite this Entry

“Horror.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/horror. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

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- How to pronounce horror (audio)
: painful and intense fear, dread, or dismay

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