1
as in disgusting
causing intense displeasure, disgust, or resentment
opening your mouth to show me your half-chewed food is absolutely appalling
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in horrific
extremely disturbing or repellent
appalling crimes against humanity
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in shocking
to cause an unpleasant surprise for
conditions inside the house overrun with cats simply appalled animal control officers
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of appalling
Sacha Pfeiffer, NPR, 21 July 2025
The results of all this hyper-production are both glorious and appalling.
—David Denby, New Yorker, 20 July 2025
Sixteen months later, those appalling details still resonate here.
—Kansas City Star, 18 July 2025
The Trump administration's level of sheer corruption is appalling and Paramount should be ashamed of putting its profits over independent journalism.
—Mekishana Pierre, EW.com, 2 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for appalling
Adjective
And the shrapnel causes the most appalling internal damage, destroying many of the internal organs.
—Sacha Pfeiffer, NPR, 21 July 2025
The results of all this hyper-production are both glorious and appalling.
—David Denby, New Yorker, 20 July 2025
Sixteen months later, those appalling details still resonate here.
—Kansas City Star, 18 July 2025
The Trump administration's level of sheer corruption is appalling and Paramount should be ashamed of putting its profits over independent journalism.
—Mekishana Pierre, EW.com, 2 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for appalling
Recent Examples of Synonyms for appalling
Adjective
-
Kruse and her co-conspirators are now on their fourth different set of lawyers in this dispute, and this is a disgusting publicity stunt by new counsel, as evidenced by the fact that the complaint and press release were sent to the press before the complaint was served.—
Michaela Zee,
Variety,
13 Aug. 2025
-
The series sets the various human and humanoid segments of its cast on a direct course with the distinctly inhuman alien flora and fauna on the ship – there are some inventive little monsters aboard, disgusting and harrowing in their own special ways – to great effect.—
Kelly Lawler,
USA Today,
12 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
The Yogurt Shop Murders is based on a true story of a horrific crime back in 1991, one that many people may not have heard of.—
Paul Tassi,
Forbes.com,
7 Aug. 2025
-
The situation for the hostages is absolutely horrific as well.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
3 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Jung-bae wound up in a room of three, with Player 001 and some rando — but Player 001 choked the stranger to death in time to reduce their head count, shocking Jung-bae more than a bit.—
Matt Webb Mitovich,
TVLine,
26 Dec. 2024
-
Fox News Digital obtained shocking audio between Cyrus and his estranged wife where the country crooner is heard berating his Australian ex and using profane language.—
Ashley Hume,
Fox News,
26 Dec. 2024
Adjective
-
That said, the pitching is in an awful place right now, though rookie Chase Dollander’s performance Monday night at St. Louis was heartening.—
Patrick Saunders,
Denver Post,
13 Aug. 2025
-
This man has saved countless kids from being groomed, has raised awareness to millions about these condo games and the awful things pedophiles will do to get their hands on children, and he's comforted people literally just like me who've gone through the exact thing.—
Jill Duffy,
PC Magazine,
12 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
The gruesome deaths of the two beloved teens shook and forever changed the small Indiana community.—
Kristine Phillips,
IndyStar,
1 Aug. 2025
-
The list includes redshirt junior nose tackle Jamari Lyons, back from a gruesome ankle injury, athletic 6-foot-2 ½, 244-pound sophomore linebacker Aaron Chiles and redshirt cornerback Cormani McClain.—
Edgar Thompson,
The Orlando Sentinel,
30 July 2025
Adjective
-
This was the definition of a symbolic move, in large part due to frustration over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's stewardship of the war in Gaza as well as the horrible images depicting starvation that are streaming out of the enclave.—
Zoltan Istvan,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 Aug. 2025
-
Soroka is a combined 3-18 with a 4.81 ERA the last two seasons with the White Sox and Nationals, two horrible teams.—
Paul Sullivan,
Chicago Tribune,
5 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
While the latter is known for its legendarily terrible English localization, both of these were highly innovative horizontal scrolling shmups for their time.—
Ollie Barder,
Forbes.com,
14 Aug. 2025
-
Whether your team is in the middle of a winning run or mired in terrible form, five minutes looking at the standings can convince you that a hundred different futures are possible.—
Anantaajith Raghuraman,
New York Times,
14 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
The brazen and aggressive manhandling of Senator Padilla by the Trump administration is a sickening disgrace.—
Emma Marsden,
MSNBC Newsweek,
13 June 2025
-
The practice is one of a sickening array of battlefield mistreatments recorded on video either by Ukrainian surveillance drones or Russian servicemen and then circulated on social media.—
Andrew Carey,
CNN Money,
28 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Appalling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/appalling. Accessed 19 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share