appalling 1 of 2

adjective

ə-ˈpȯ-liŋ How to pronounce appalling (audio)
Definition of appallingnext
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

appalling

2 of 2

verb

present participle of appall
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
Adjective
Manzo was politically forged by the cartels’ appalling displays of violence and looked to stamp it out with reciprocal displays of force against the crime organizations. — Carlos De Loera, Los Angeles Times, 22 May 2026 The symbols that were represented are antisemitic and hateful to every person of conscience; this appalling act violated our sense of community and solidarity. — Jesse Zanger, CBS News, 3 June 2026
Verb
Truly appalling friend counsel here from Mindy. — Jessica M. Goldstein, Vulture, 19 Dec. 2025 Of all the recent poster boys for appalling misbehavior by the State Police, Michael Proctor would of course rank number one. — Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 4 Jan. 2026 See All Example Sentences for appalling
Recent Examples of Synonyms for appalling
  1. disgusting
  2. horrific
  3. shocking
  4. awful
  5. gruesome
  6. horrifying
  7. horrible
  8. terrible
Adjective
  • Noah Kahan is speaking out about a disgusting habit picked up by some music fans.
    — Taijuan Moorman, USA Today, 29 June 2026
  • French broadcaster French Pierron was under fire for calling childbirth 'a disgusting moment.
    — Emlyn Travis, Entertainment Weekly, 22 June 2026
Definition of disgusting
Adjective
  • Gerardi and his horrific murder have remained relevant in the decades since.
    — Britannica Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica, 7 July 2026
  • To be sure, the thugs of Hamas and Hezbollah committed a horrific massacre of young Jewish civilians enjoying a music festival on October 7, 2023.
    — DP Opinion, Denver Post, 6 July 2026
Definition of horrific
Verb
  • The payments were introduced following a 2024 assassination attempt on Fico, who was shot and gravely wounded after a government meeting, shocking the small country and reverberating across Europe.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 4 July 2026
  • Cape Verde, the ultimate underdog, went toe-to-toe with a primary contender, shocking the soccer world with a 0-0 draw against Spain.
    — Amna Subhan, AJC.com, 1 July 2026
Definition of shocking
Adjective
  • One year Pippa Middleton faced the awful shame of having to sit in a normal seat after showing up late.
    — Nick Miller, New York Times, 4 July 2026
  • Sugar is at the forensic lab with the corpse of a man who looks an awful lot like Ji Moon but isn’t Ji Moon (courtesy of Shea Whigham as Tom Flybjerg).
    — Andy Andersen, Vulture, 27 June 2026
Definition of awful
Adjective
  • The more time passes, the more gruesome the recovery process becomes, said William Gomez, a firefighter in La Guaira.
    — Fernanda Pesce, Los Angeles Times, 6 July 2026
  • Family and loved ones are remembering Brittany Clark, the former Sacramento resident and Kennedy High School student killed by an alligator in a Florida river, as officials there released new details of the gruesome attack.
    — Darrell Smith, Sacbee.com, 6 July 2026
Definition of gruesome
Verb
  • The complications are horrifying doctors.
    — Alexandra Frost, USA Today, 24 June 2026
  • Following her rescue, horrifying details of what happened to Jaycee began to emerge.
    — Lynsey Eidell, PEOPLE, 10 June 2026
Definition of horrifying
Adjective
  • And obviously, slavery was a terrible thing, and that was horrible.
    — Hanna Rosin, The Atlantic, 2 July 2026
  • Horton, who married Rickman in 2012 in a private ceremony after more than 40 years together, also told the outlet that the diagnosis had been a horrible shock to them both.
    — Gillian Telling, PEOPLE, 29 June 2026
Definition of horrible
Adjective
  • With all the terrible news of layoffs and that the games industry is in a dire state, some people online have said a crash is the only way to fix things.
    — Ollie Barder, Forbes.com, 8 July 2026
  • With Te Fiti gone, a terrible darkness began slowly taking hold of the islands and their surrounding waters.
    — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 8 July 2026
Definition of terrible

Browse Nearby Words

appalled
appalling
appallingly
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Appalling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/appalling. Accessed 10 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on appalling

Nglish: Translation of appalling for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 10
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All