1
as in horrific
extremely disturbing or repellent
an atrocious crime that shocked even hardened members of the police force
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in horrible
extremely unsatisfactory
the picture quality on the pirated DVD was atrocious
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in brutal
having or showing the desire to inflict severe pain and suffering on others
the atrocious treatment of prisoners at the camps
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of atrocious
Tottenham’s performances without their first-choice centre-backs have been atrocious.
—
Jay Harris, New York Times, 1 May 2025
This ruling is atrocious & the City of Naples should appeal this case to the Supreme Court.
—Alex Nitzberg, FOXNews.com, 30 May 2025
The first act is genuinely atrocious, a mess of story threads revolving around an uninteresting villain in the AI Entity that feels far too downbeat and sad for this franchise.
—Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 23 May 2025
The Vivienne sounds good but struggles with the choreo, and Crystal’s verse is atrocious, to put it gently.
—Barry Levitt, Vulture, 12 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for atrocious
Jay Harris, New York Times, 1 May 2025
This ruling is atrocious & the City of Naples should appeal this case to the Supreme Court.
—Alex Nitzberg, FOXNews.com, 30 May 2025
The first act is genuinely atrocious, a mess of story threads revolving around an uninteresting villain in the AI Entity that feels far too downbeat and sad for this franchise.
—Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 23 May 2025
The Vivienne sounds good but struggles with the choreo, and Crystal’s verse is atrocious, to put it gently.
—Barry Levitt, Vulture, 12 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for atrocious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for atrocious
Adjective
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This is what Qasem Hassan had feared from the start—that the horrific violence inflicted on Israelis on October 7th would be used to justify a war without limits, dehumanizing all Palestinians.—
Eyal Press,
New Yorker,
9 June 2025
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That this horrific upheaval comes care of Lucy’s work is the real kicker.—
Kate Erbland,
IndieWire,
9 June 2025
Adjective
-
Even with the horrible start the Red Sox still nearly came all the way back, twice drawing to within one run, but the club couldn’t get over the hump.—
Mac Cerullo,
Boston Herald,
3 June 2025
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Even on a horrible team, someone has to score, get rebounds and assists.—
Ira Winderman,
Sun Sentinel,
2 June 2025
Adjective
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Here lies the brutal dilemma of change: Leaders see systems; people feel emotions.—
Sahar Andrade,
Forbes.com,
5 June 2025
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As the state on Thursday summed up the brutal details that made up the prosecution’s case, a relative walked out of the courtroom with a loud scream, causing Petrone to tell the jury to ignore the outburst.—
Madeline Buckley,
Chicago Tribune,
5 June 2025
Adjective
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Six decades later, Hamas would engage in a gruesome competition with Fatah to outdo one another with terrorist attacks during the 1990s and early 2000s.—
Sean Durns,
The Washington Examiner,
6 June 2025
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But Trump and Epstein’s association has been out in the open for nearly a quarter century; nineties-era footage of the gruesome twosome together at Mar-a-Lago, leering at a group of young cheerleaders, has been circulating since at least 2019.—
Jessica Winter,
New Yorker,
6 June 2025
Adjective
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Kids these days have attention spans crushed under the terrible weight of TikTok and Instgram.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
3 June 2025
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My heart goes out to the victims of this terrible tragedy, and the Great People of Boulder, Colorado!—
Dan Mangan,
CNBC,
2 June 2025
Adjective
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And for every San Antonio, there is a Utah or Washington or Charlotte that can’t believe how cruel the lottery can be.—
Ira Winderman,
Sun Sentinel,
3 June 2025
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This is cruel, unnecessary, and will further fan the flames of economic chaos for working families across this country.—
Adam S. Minsky,
Forbes.com,
3 June 2025
Adjective
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Continuing a recent pattern of face-to-furniture collisions on the talk show, the 69-year-old's head made a momentous journey plummeting toward the program's storied table at the top of Tuesday's live broadcast, after panelist Joy Behar made a shocking joke about Sean Combs.—
Joey Nolfi Published,
EW.com,
3 June 2025
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Sunday’s result was shocking because DeRias had been so good as a freshman this season, entering this game with a 3.98 ERA.—
Walter Villa,
Miami Herald,
2 June 2025
Adjective
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Over the 18 games following a 21-run eruption against the historically awful Colorado Rockies, the Padres ranked last in the majors in OPS and third-to-last in runs per game.—
Dennis Lin,
New York Times,
2 June 2025
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The timing isn’t awful for SDFC, which doesn’t play its next league game until June 14 and expected Lozano to be absent possibly into early July on national-team duty.—
Mark Zeigler,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
31 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Atrocious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/atrocious. Accessed 17 Jun. 2025.
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