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 terrible
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
Silence in the face of such brutalities and atrocious crimes is not an option.
—
Hamid Kashani, Twin Cities, 5 Feb. 2026
To secure a death sentence in Utah, prosecutors must demonstrate aggravating circumstances, such as that the crime was especially heinous or atrocious.
—Matthew Brown, Chicago Tribune, 4 Feb. 2026
To secure a death sentence in Utah, prosecutors must demonstrate aggravating circumstances, such as that the crime was especially heinous or atrocious.
—Matthew Brown, Los Angeles Times, 3 Feb. 2026
Most Idaho politicians are atrocious.
—Michael Deeds, Idaho Statesman, 8 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for atrocious
Hamid Kashani, Twin Cities, 5 Feb. 2026
To secure a death sentence in Utah, prosecutors must demonstrate aggravating circumstances, such as that the crime was especially heinous or atrocious.
—Matthew Brown, Chicago Tribune, 4 Feb. 2026
To secure a death sentence in Utah, prosecutors must demonstrate aggravating circumstances, such as that the crime was especially heinous or atrocious.
—Matthew Brown, Los Angeles Times, 3 Feb. 2026
Most Idaho politicians are atrocious.
—Michael Deeds, Idaho Statesman, 8 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for atrocious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for atrocious
Adjective
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Lindsey Vonn says her left leg almost needed to be amputated following her horrific crash while competing at the Milan-Cortina Olympics this month.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Feb. 2026
-
Lindsey Vonn’s horrific leg injury was even more serious than originally realized.—
Peter Sblendorio,
New York Daily News,
23 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Ball told TechCrunch that imposing the supply-chain risk label would send a terrible message to any company doing business with the government.—
Jeremy Kahn,
Fortune,
26 Feb. 2026
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But this is some terrible people.—
Babak Dehghanpisheh,
NBC news,
26 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Two boys, ages 12 and 13, were charged by a grand jury this week as adults in the brutal rape of a 12-year-old girl in the garden area of a Miami apartment complex over the summer.—
David Goodhue,
Miami Herald,
27 Feb. 2026
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Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo, and SZA have all condemned the use of their music in propaganda videos tied to the government’s brutal immigration crackdown.—
Jon Blistein,
Rolling Stone,
27 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The stumblebum energy disarms us, which makes the gruesome cruelty of the kills that much more disturbing.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
27 Feb. 2026
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In the second game for the Swiss, against Canada, Fiala broke his left leg in gruesome fashion for the second time in his career.—
Andrew Knoll,
Daily News,
23 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Aston Villa 2-1 Leeds Brentford vs Brighton Brighton are playing better than a horrible run of results — one win, six draws, and six defeats in their last 13 Premier League games — suggests.—
Oliver Kay,
New York Times,
20 Feb. 2026
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Probably one of the scenes where Stephen does horrible things to women.—
Jackie Strause,
HollywoodReporter,
18 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Indeed, the covert interventions so central to the Cold War, which these men embodied, relied on some of the cruelest instruments in the tool kit of modern statecraft—assassination, coup d’état, mass murder, psychological manipulation, surrogate warfare, torture, and terror.—
Alfred McCoy,
Literary Hub,
26 Feb. 2026
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In what has to be the cruelest Survivor fate ever, Francesca came back to avenge being voted out first… and was then promptly voted out first again!—
Dalton Ross,
Entertainment Weekly,
26 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Both teamed up with Mike Curtis, Brad Townsend and Shawn McFarland for top 10 in event coverage, the aftermath of Luka Doncic’s shocking trade from the Mavs to the Lakers.—
SportsDay Staff,
Dallas Morning News,
28 Feb. 2026
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Coviello, a junior guard, recorded the first of his five assists on a 3-pointer by Kelly that started a shocking 15-0 run in the first quarter.—
Matt Le Cren,
Chicago Tribune,
28 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Whatever’s awful right now is legit awful.—
Sarah Hepola,
Dallas Morning News,
25 Feb. 2026
-
Regardless of how embarrassing, personal, awful, unacceptable things are.—
Joe Rexrode,
New York Times,
24 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Atrocious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/atrocious. Accessed 2 Mar. 2026.
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