1
as in horrible
causing fear
a horrendous explosion shook the building
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in awful
causing intense displeasure, disgust, or resentment
a horrendous breach of good manners that should not escape censure
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in horrific
extremely disturbing or repellent
emergency room personnel did not flinch even from the most horrendous injuries
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of horrendous
In a horrendous coincidence, on Monday evening, a man fell from the upper level of Pittsburgh’s PPG Paints Arena during the Pittsburgh Penguins game.
—
Tony Maglio, HollywoodReporter, 28 Oct. 2025
Kevin Bollaro has faithfully served that community for nearly 25 years and is not guilty of anything related to this horrendous killing.
—Kc Baker, PEOPLE, 27 Oct. 2025
Just a horrendous organization.
—Nick Canepa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Oct. 2025
The offense got off to a horrendous start, committing eight turnovers in the first six minutes alone.
—Joseph Dycus, Mercury News, 18 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for horrendous
Tony Maglio, HollywoodReporter, 28 Oct. 2025
Kevin Bollaro has faithfully served that community for nearly 25 years and is not guilty of anything related to this horrendous killing.
—Kc Baker, PEOPLE, 27 Oct. 2025
Just a horrendous organization.
—Nick Canepa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Oct. 2025
The offense got off to a horrendous start, committing eight turnovers in the first six minutes alone.
—Joseph Dycus, Mercury News, 18 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for horrendous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for horrendous
Adjective
-
Are there horrible smells wafting around?—
Clio Chang,
Curbed,
7 Jan. 2026
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Jimmy Kimmel was horrible, and some of these people.—
Greg Evans,
Deadline,
6 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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The Hoosiers, of course, are the prime example of a longtime awful football program rising to the top.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
8 Jan. 2026
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Mamdani hasn’t had time yet to flesh out his awful, socialist ideas into real policies that adversely affect New Yorkers.—
Nicole Russell,
USA Today,
8 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Wednesday afternoon, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the shooting horrific.—
Ali Bauman,
CBS News,
8 Jan. 2026
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From a horrific account of an asteroid hitting Earth to an evil AI computer capable of designing deadly activities, readers will face the dark and mysterious corners of the human experience.—
Jessica Tzikas,
Sun Sentinel,
8 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Humans could suddenly step into a box, perhaps hear gears grind, and then exit the box on a different floor—and even as safety features were innovated, that was terrifying.—
Jason Corso,
Fortune,
6 Jan. 2026
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Madigan's character, the elderly aunt of several of the students, became a cult favorite, both terrifying and delighting audiences.—
Anna Kaufman,
USA Today,
5 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Not because the moms themselves are toxic people, but because the dynamic shifts into an ugly place with mean-girl behavior.—
Madison E. Goldberg,
PEOPLE,
7 Jan. 2026
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Sure, coach Mike Tomlin's teams tend to win ugly games, but not in the playoffs — at least not lately.—
Austin Mock,
New York Times,
7 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Von had been Trump-friendly before the gruesome and heartbreaking videos of the ICE raids targeting working immigrants started going viral on social media.—
Armando Tinoco,
Deadline,
7 Nov. 2025
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Daniels suffered his gruesome non-throwing-arm injury during the fourth quarter of Week 9's blowout loss to the Seahawks.—
Matt Audilet,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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The groundbreaking research penetrated the last moments of the young nobleman, who suffered a terrible 26 blows.—
Maria Mocerino,
Interesting Engineering,
10 Nov. 2025
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History is full of cases where great bands make terrible records, yet history stands speechless at what the Clash accomplished here.—
Rob Sheffield,
Rolling Stone,
9 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
By modern standards, kind of disgusting.—
Glenn Garner,
Deadline,
7 Nov. 2025
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But stepping into that closet was really disgusting.—
Lauren Huff,
Entertainment Weekly,
31 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Horrendous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/horrendous. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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