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
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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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We were made aware of this horrible activity by Priscilla Olivarez from ILRC, at our annual conference Convening 2025, held in San Antonio.—
Billal Rahman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
2 June 2025
Adjective
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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
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Here lies the brutal dilemma of change: Leaders see systems; people feel emotions.—
Sahar Andrade,
Forbes.com,
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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And these are the same Oilers who, after a terrible 6-1 loss in Game 3 to the Panthers, overcame a three-goal deficit in Game 4 to even the series.—
Daniel Nugent-Bowman,
New York Times,
15 June 2025
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For example, while the IRA rollback effort will inevitably mean a significant reduction in U.S. federal support for electric vehicles, nevertheless the adoption of EVs continued in Q1 even despite a terrible quarter for the U.S.’s leading brand (Tesla).—
Rob Day,
Forbes.com,
14 June 2025
Adjective
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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
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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
Adjective
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But then what looked like a tap-in par on the long par-three eighth turned into a shocking miss.—
Doug Ferguson,
Los Angeles Times,
15 June 2025
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When Burns bogeyed the par-3 16th, missing an eight-foot par putt that seemed shocking for a player whose play on the greens had been incredible all week, Spaun saved par with a clutch second shot that put him five feet from the cup.—
Kyle Feldscher,
CNN Money,
14 June 2025
Adjective
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Even so, some of Lucy’s pronouncements are so truly awful that a blunt snort of laughter is the only response.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
13 June 2025
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Romano moved back into the closer role since the loss of Alvarado, and has alternated awesome and awful performances - his ERA is an unsightly 7.40 to date.—
Tony Blengino,
Forbes.com,
11 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Atrocious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/atrocious. Accessed 19 Jun. 2025.
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