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
Scott Schwebke, Oc Register, 13 June 2025
Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the scenes appalling and hailed the bravery of rescuers.
—Brian Melley, Chicago Tribune, 27 May 2025
Answer: Grace’s story is appalling, and also illuminates this intergenerational miscommunication that's going on.
—Alyssa Goldberg, USA Today, 24 May 2025
There are the one-run games and their appalling 6-15 record in them.
—Gabrielle Starr, Boston Herald, 30 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for appalling
Adjective
Brian Williams, another Greenberg Gross attorney and co-counsel for both plaintiffs, said failures by Orange and Tustin school officials to supervise Alcala are appalling.
—Scott Schwebke, Oc Register, 13 June 2025
Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the scenes appalling and hailed the bravery of rescuers.
—Brian Melley, Chicago Tribune, 27 May 2025
Answer: Grace’s story is appalling, and also illuminates this intergenerational miscommunication that's going on.
—Alyssa Goldberg, USA Today, 24 May 2025
There are the one-run games and their appalling 6-15 record in them.
—Gabrielle Starr, Boston Herald, 30 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for appalling
Recent Examples of Synonyms for appalling
Adjective
-
First came the disgusting pictures of waters so fouled that they were often compared to rotting guacamole.—
Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board,
The Orlando Sentinel,
26 June 2025
-
Republicans seem to try to outdo each other to see who can be the most hateful and disgusting.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
26 June 2025
Adjective
-
Throughout the Holocaust, the Nazis concentrated European Jews in urban ghettos, which were marked by horrific living conditions, forced labor and the threat of execution.—
Tom Dreisbach,
NPR,
30 June 2025
-
And that's a tough sell to a jury that spent weeks listening to horrific testimony about Diddy and his empire.—
Lauryn Overhultz,
FOXNews.com,
29 June 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
-
What’s more, the Steelers failed to score a first-drive touchdown all season, were awful in the red zone, were awful on first down, and mostly awful in short yardage.—
Tribune Content Agency,
The Orlando Sentinel,
23 June 2025
-
Outcomes for what’s referred to as ‘children in care’ remain unacceptably awful.—
Avivah Wittenberg-Cox,
Forbes.com,
19 June 2025
Adjective
-
Accounts of government and police repression have only gotten more gruesome, with Amnesty Kenya reporting that 16 people have been shot and killed as of June 28 and local officials claiming that hundreds have been injured (while also alleging that most of those hurt were police officers).—
Mankaprr Conteh,
Rolling Stone,
30 June 2025
-
Forget turning on some gruesome horror movie: reading the daily headlines is enough to make just about anyone scream.—
Christian Allaire,
Vogue,
26 June 2025
Adjective
-
To be able to say that so many writers have been meaningful to you is not a horrible thing.—
John Warner,
Chicago Tribune,
28 June 2025
-
If Flagg develops into the human triple double who leads the team to the Western Conference Finals and NBA Finals in his first six years, the trade can be called not a horrible deal.—
Mac Engel,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
26 June 2025
Adjective
-
Rarely great, and consistently cringey in that NHL way we’re used to by now, but rarely terrible.—
Sean McIndoe,
New York Times,
28 June 2025
-
Gi-hun is left with a terrible choice: kill the baby and survive, or sacrifice himself so that the baby can live.—
Kayti Burt,
Time,
27 June 2025
Adjective
-
The portal that allows the players to go from school to school is also sickening.—
Reader Commentary,
Baltimore Sun,
9 June 2025
-
The Queens Botanical Garden’s annual Pride event will feature DJ music, after-hours access to the garden and sickening drag performances by Nani Tsunami and Janae SaisQuoi.—
Muri Assunção,
New York Daily News,
14 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Appalling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/appalling. Accessed 11 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share