as in gruesome
extremely disturbing or repellent
horrific images of the devastation spurred many people to give generously
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Recent Examples of horrific
The Clippers got off to a horrific start (6-21), but turned things around over the last 23 games (17-6).
—
Zach Harper, New York Times, 5 Feb. 2026
The most outspoken of the Turpin siblings, Jordan has been focused on healing from her horrific experiences with both her parents and foster parents.
—Stephanie Kaloi, PEOPLE, 4 Feb. 2026
In the movie, which has already been touted as a 2027 Oscar contender by awards pundits, Tatum plays the father of a young girl who is traumatized after witnessing a horrific crime in a public park.
—Anna Kaufman, USA Today, 4 Feb. 2026
Alexander's parents, Matt and Christy Brown, were overjoyed to have turned their son's horrific diagnosis into something positive.
—Lauren Victory, CBS News, 4 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for horrific
Zach Harper, New York Times, 5 Feb. 2026
The most outspoken of the Turpin siblings, Jordan has been focused on healing from her horrific experiences with both her parents and foster parents.
—Stephanie Kaloi, PEOPLE, 4 Feb. 2026
In the movie, which has already been touted as a 2027 Oscar contender by awards pundits, Tatum plays the father of a young girl who is traumatized after witnessing a horrific crime in a public park.
—Anna Kaufman, USA Today, 4 Feb. 2026
Alexander's parents, Matt and Christy Brown, were overjoyed to have turned their son's horrific diagnosis into something positive.
—Lauren Victory, CBS News, 4 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for horrific
Recent Examples of Synonyms for horrific
Adjective
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Throughout the last two days, Ivey centered himself in faith and gratitude — two grounding principles for a player whose career was derailed in January 2025 by a gruesome leg injury.—
Julia Poe,
Chicago Tribune,
6 Feb. 2026
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The 16th century eponymous Danish princess (voiced by Mana Ashida) loses her father, King Amleth (Masachika Ichimura), to a gruesome betrayal.—
Carlos Aguilar,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Los Angeles City Councilwoman Nithya Raman entered the city’s crowded mayoral race on Saturday, marking a shocking and last-minute move to challenge longtime ally Mayor Karen Bass after previously endorsing the mayor.—
Emily Hallas,
The Washington Examiner,
7 Feb. 2026
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What began with the unconstitutional targeting of law firms, universities, and non-partisan civil servants has advanced to ICE’s shocking and deadly street-level assaults.—
Chris Mattei,
Hartford Courant,
6 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Miami is now 27-26, still mired in play-in territory, entering today’s matinee at horrible Washington.—
Greg Cote
February 8,
Miami Herald,
8 Feb. 2026
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A lot of things have happened with regard to that horrible situation the last couple of hours.—
Kathy Tulumello,
AZCentral.com,
6 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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America just passed the 50th anniversary of one of its truly terrible days — one that future historians can track as the beginning of the end of our democracy.—
Orlando Sentinel,
The Orlando Sentinel,
5 Feb. 2026
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Busch was terrible defensively at third.—
Assistant Sports Editor,
Los Angeles Times,
5 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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That alone would be nightmare enough, but this debate has been constructed and is moderated by Sam Reich.—
Nic Juarez,
Vulture,
14 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Ice Cream Man follows an idyllic summer town descending into madness when an ice cream man serves kids sweet delights with horrifying results.—
Anthony D'Alessandro,
Deadline,
6 Feb. 2026
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At the time it was widely reported that Censori was thinking of leaving Ye amid a deluge of horrifying behavior, and possibly—or so the leering speculation of tabloids and comments sections goes—abuse of Censori herself.—
Anna Peele,
Vanity Fair,
6 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The bodycam video was an eye-opening look at the frightening aftermath of the Brown campus shooting when police were searching room-by-room for the suspect, trying to comfort and care for terrified students, and trying to coordinate with campus police to get past locked doors.—
Corky Siemaszko,
NBC news,
9 Feb. 2026
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In 2017 Dikansh Parmar of the Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change in Germany, rescued an Indian cobra (Naja naja) coiled around a train’s window bars that was hissing and, understandably, frightening passengers.—
Richard Kemeny,
Scientific American,
6 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Horrific.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/horrific. Accessed 13 Feb. 2026.
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