1
as in horrible
causing fear
a horrendous explosion shook the building
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of horrendous
So, yeah, the humanitarian cost is horrendous.
—
Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker, 30 Mar. 2026
Until the 1950s, its inmates were Vietnamese revolutionaries – or anyone deemed to be such – and conditions were truly horrendous.
—Tamara Hinson, Condé Nast Traveler, 27 Mar. 2026
While Sturm sat Lohrei for the next power play after a similar situation in the loss to Toronto, and could have reasonably benched him after that horrendous sequence, Sturm did put him back on the ice.
—Steve Conroy, Boston Herald, 26 Mar. 2026
But her latest act is horrendous and cannot be supported.
—Christina Dugan Ramirez, FOXNews.com, 20 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for horrendous
Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker, 30 Mar. 2026
Until the 1950s, its inmates were Vietnamese revolutionaries – or anyone deemed to be such – and conditions were truly horrendous.
—Tamara Hinson, Condé Nast Traveler, 27 Mar. 2026
While Sturm sat Lohrei for the next power play after a similar situation in the loss to Toronto, and could have reasonably benched him after that horrendous sequence, Sturm did put him back on the ice.
—Steve Conroy, Boston Herald, 26 Mar. 2026
But her latest act is horrendous and cannot be supported.
—Christina Dugan Ramirez, FOXNews.com, 20 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for horrendous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for horrendous
Adjective
-
Zack James’ shifty drumming hammers out a drum ’n’ bass redux like a panicked heartbeat while Carney Hemler’s bass lurches in slow motion, replicating the gut drop of a horrible realization.—
Nina Corcoran,
Pitchfork,
3 Apr. 2026
-
Fendelman captured that horrible silence in the doc, punctuated by Littlejohn’s niece screaming, feral and raw.—
Brenna Ehrlich,
Rolling Stone,
3 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The only way to pull out of an awful season-opening stretch is one at-bat, one pitch, one win at a time.—
Jen McCaffrey,
New York Times,
8 Apr. 2026
-
Still, outside of two games, the offense has been awful.—
Patrick Saunders,
Denver Post,
8 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
There are people like Les Wexner and Leon Black who have allegedly had such horrific abuse and there has not been any investigations.—
NBC news,
NBC news,
5 Apr. 2026
-
Because their firstborn son had just died, and so that was horrific.—
Marc Weingarten,
Los Angeles Times,
4 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
What was John thinking before the surface of the water appeared before his windshield, rushing forward at terrifying speed?—
Jeffrey Eugenides,
New Yorker,
4 Apr. 2026
-
As The Boys presents a terrifying dystopia under Homelander (Antony Starr) in the fifth and final season, Eric Kripke recently noted that any narrative similarities to our current dystopia are purely coincidental.—
Glenn Garner,
Deadline,
4 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
While not the pastor of the United States, Trump surely represents the face of the United States on a daily basis, and that face is an ugly one.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
9 Apr. 2026
-
Featuring the good, the bad and the ugly, ‘Look of the Week’ is a regular series dedicated to unpacking the most talked about outfit of the last seven days.—
Leah Dolan,
CNN Money,
9 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Dahl’s books are fanciful and imaginative, but also dark, cynical, and mean (and, unfortunately, often reflected his real-life ugliness), spinning stories in which gruesome and unpleasant fates befell rotten kids, and adults were frequently selfish, cruel, and not to be trusted.—
Wilson Chapman,
IndieWire,
10 Apr. 2026
-
The evidence at trial included a gruesome video showing Stanfier’s body in the trunk of a car, which had been shared with a woman Jordan-Brooks reportedly met while working at Kentucky Fried Chicken in Emeryville years earlier, court records show.—
Nate Gartrell,
Mercury News,
8 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
At that point, something terrible, something on the scale of the Maidan protests in Ukraine in 2014, is not inconceivable.—
Kapil Komireddi,
New Yorker,
10 Apr. 2026
-
Between some horrendous screw-ups, terrible decision-making, and some plain old bad luck, their situation, and that of their mother, Linda Morelli (Laurie Metcalf), who is running for mayor, only gets worse.—
Maggie Fremont,
Vulture,
9 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Living under an openly misogynistic president may have felt freakish in 2017, but by his second term, bigotry became yet another disgusting norm.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
2 Apr. 2026
-
The amount of disrespect shown the Broncos is disgusting.—
Troy Renck,
Denver Post,
27 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Horrendous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/horrendous. Accessed 12 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
