APPALLING Synonyms: 215 Similar and Opposite Words

appalling 1 of 2

adjective

ə-ˈpȯ-liŋ

Definition of appalling

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

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

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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

Most appalling to Graham is our collective inertia, not to say apathy. — Literary Hub, 6 Aug. 2026 Trump paid them substandard wages, and their working conditions were appalling. — Kai Bird, New Yorker, 3 Aug. 2026

Verb

The young Forster recoiled from the school’s culture of authoritarianism and militaristic chauvinism, which may have found expression in the students’ often appalling attitudes toward their own mothers. — Jessica Winter, New Yorker, 7 May 2026 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

Adjective

That’s likely to inspire either affection or immediate exhaustion, depending on your fondness for the infamously disgusting performance group.

— Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 8 Oct. 2026
People tend to think of waste as trash, sewage, slag, manure and other seemingly useless or disgusting substances.

— Edward D. Melillo, The Conversation, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of disgusting

Adjective

There’s a slickness to the carnage that rubs uncomfortably against the film’s humanist ethos, rendering artificial (for all Shen Teng’s trembling and mouth-contorting labors) the horrific tragedies that befall its characters.

— Beatrice Loayza, Variety, 13 Oct. 2026
What happened to you was horrific, and there is nothing that any of us can say today that will make this any easier.

— Eric Mack, FOXNews.com, 12 Oct. 2026

Definition of horrific

Verb

Near the very end of the application process, DuPonty pulled out, shocking his co-workers.

— Matthew Sedacca, Curbed, 15 Oct. 2026
The Dodgers’ steadiest pitcher and coolest cat actually seemed miffed on the mound when Smith didn’t challenge — as shocking a sight as his early exit.

— Mirjam Swanson, Los Angeles Times, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of shocking

Adjective

Jake Bauers has been awful for most of his career, but graduated in 2018 as a top-50 prospect.

— Ian Miller OutKick, FOXNews.com, 18 Oct. 2026
Trailing 12-0 after its awful start, BC scored the next 14 points, jumping in front on McKenzie’s 11-yard score to Javarius Green.

— ABC News, ABC News, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of awful

Adjective

Among protesters, particularly gruesome wounds suffered by some teenagers have been blamed on police riot-control weapons.

— ABC News, ABC News, 13 Oct. 2026
Mars Attacks, released in 1962, was a huge hit with kids, though many parents objected to the gruesome artwork of Martians eviscerating Earthlings.

— Bob Woods, CNBC, 10 Oct. 2026

Definition of gruesome

Verb

On Christmas Day, Neon will weigh in with the best of the three, Luca Guadagnino’s Artificial, a humorous and ultimately horrifying account of 20 years of AI evolution and a scorching portrait of OpenAI founder Sam Altman.

— David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 7 Oct. 2026
The crime scene was gruesome, horrifying those who were summoned to the Second Street home in the wake of the attacks.

— Lynsey Eidell, PEOPLE, 18 Sep. 2026

Definition of horrifying

Adjective

There’s a big data center that just came to my community not long ago and their community engagement was horrible, absolutely horrible.

— Dustin DeSoto, Vox, 16 Oct. 2026
After the third day of squirting an experimental drug up his nose, Dylan Meetze felt horrible.

— Amy Maxmen, Miami Herald, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of horrible

Adjective

The second storyline takes place in 2026 and concerns the murder of none other than Hal Jordan, who returned to Rushville as a social pariah after the terrible events that transpired 10 years before.

— Jennifer Ouellette, ArsTechnica, 19 Oct. 2026
The Eagles are struggling, the Cowboys look terrible, and the Giants don’t have a quarterback.

— OutKick, FOXNews.com, 19 Oct. 2026

Definition of terrible

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appalled

appalling

appallingly

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Style

“Appalling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/appalling. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of appalling

adjective

verb

Example Sentences

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