1
as in horrific
extremely disturbing or repellent
an atrocious crime that shocked even hardened members of the police force
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in horrible
extremely unsatisfactory
the picture quality on the pirated DVD was atrocious
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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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of atrocious
The atrocious destruction of Gaza and its people must end.
—
Jamie Gray, NBC news, 24 Mar. 2025
Unlike Proctor, who continues to be pampered and coddled by the brass for his atrocious misbehavior, Cournoyer was run out of the State Police.
—Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 12 Mar. 2025
Team-wide 3-point shooting (29.6 percent) is oddly atrocious.
—Brendan Quinn, The Athletic, 22 Feb. 2025
The atrocious destruction of Gaza and its people, which must end, the Israeli hostages brutally taken in the crime of October 7th, which must be freed.
—Harrison Richlin, IndieWire, 2 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for atrocious
Jamie Gray, NBC news, 24 Mar. 2025
Unlike Proctor, who continues to be pampered and coddled by the brass for his atrocious misbehavior, Cournoyer was run out of the State Police.
—Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 12 Mar. 2025
Team-wide 3-point shooting (29.6 percent) is oddly atrocious.
—Brendan Quinn, The Athletic, 22 Feb. 2025
The atrocious destruction of Gaza and its people, which must end, the Israeli hostages brutally taken in the crime of October 7th, which must be freed.
—Harrison Richlin, IndieWire, 2 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for atrocious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for atrocious
Adjective
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These types of horrific events by terrorists are why those of us who work for peace and stability in the world continue our mission.—
Danielle Wallace,
FOXNews.com,
22 Apr. 2025
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Of course, some eight hundred thousand did die—many in horrific ways—while the formerly enslaved were left to fend for themselves in a postwar state where apartheid was enforced by terror.—
Adam Gopnik,
New Yorker,
21 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Big, wonderful, funny, horrible, strange, sad, great life.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
1 May 2025
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One of our group hunted it on a rainy afternoon — traditionally a horrible time to bag a bird — and killed a 3-year-old tom. —A.M. Don’t Become Overly Reliant on Your Cameras Cameras aren’t magic.—
Andrew McKean,
Outdoor Life,
1 May 2025
Adjective
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This high school student completed a brutal swim across New Zealand's 13.67-mile Cook Strait 02:16 CNN — Maya Merhige eventually stopped counting her jellyfish stings, such was the frequency with which they were getting scorched against her skin.—
George Ramsay,
CNN Money,
30 Apr. 2025
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Domestic overcapacity and brutal internal competition have already pushed Chinese firms to expand abroad in search of profit margins.—
Zongyuan Zoe Liu,
Foreign Affairs,
29 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Surely Yellowstone, with its large predators and geothermal activity will deliver something gruesome.—
Wes Siler,
Outside Online,
19 Apr. 2025
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The gruesome spectacle that follows earns raucous cheers and applause from the slack-jawed onlookers.—
Patrick Ryan,
USA Today,
18 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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United have fallen massively and it’s been a terrible watch all season, bar a couple of highs.—
Andy Mitten,
New York Times,
28 Apr. 2025
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Public interest in the film intensified after a stroke of terrible happenstance.—
Jelani Cobb,
New Yorker,
28 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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But this is the cruel and unreasonable state of this Administration's deportation policy.—
Thomas G. Moukawsher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 Apr. 2025
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Such evidence could support the view that incessant loud noise amounts to torture or cruel treatment towards cetaceans, in turn galvanizing support for a new right to be free from such harm.—
David Gruber,
Time,
24 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Then, in 1903, news broke of a shocking massacre in the town of Kishinev, in the southwestern reaches of the Russian Empire.—
Kathryn Schulz,
New Yorker,
28 Apr. 2025
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Now a shocking new report has revealed the true extent to which the communication threat extends, with a staggering 30 malicious emails a day arriving on average.—
Davey Winder,
Forbes.com,
28 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Nottingham Forest vs Manchester City Before the turn of the year, Manchester City were stuck in an awful rut.—
Sam Tighe,
New York Times,
25 Apr. 2025
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Back when Michael Jordan owned the team, the Hornets once went 7-59 in a season so awful that a movie got made about it.—
Scott Fowler,
Charlotte Observer,
24 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Atrocious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/atrocious. Accessed 6 May. 2025.
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