1
as in dreadfulness
the quality of inspiring intense dread or dismay
it's difficult to even begin to comprehend the horror of the Holocaust
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in nightmare
a situation or state that causes great suffering and unhappiness
had never experienced the horrors of war
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3
4
as in fear
the emotion experienced in the presence or threat of danger
imagine my horror at finding myself face to face with a lion on the loose
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
5
as in disgust
a dislike so strong as to cause stomach upset or queasiness
cat lover or no, she regards cleaning the litter box with horror
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of horror
There’s folklore in these stories, and Southern gothic horror, and surrealism, and fantasy, and, at their center, a thread of uneasy, bodily realism.
—
Literary Hub, 2 June 2026
The fear and horror is handled dramatically without becoming grisly or ghoulish.
—Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 2 June 2026
Ransone was also part of the main cast for Steven Soderbergh's HBO series Mosaic and appeared in such horror films as It Chapter Two (2019) and The Black Phone (2021).
—Derek Lawrence, Entertainment Weekly, 2 June 2026
Domingo could handle the sudden slide into horror, having also played Joe Jackson this year, but the gory resolution seemed unnecessary.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 2 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for horror
Literary Hub, 2 June 2026
The fear and horror is handled dramatically without becoming grisly or ghoulish.
—Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 2 June 2026
Ransone was also part of the main cast for Steven Soderbergh's HBO series Mosaic and appeared in such horror films as It Chapter Two (2019) and The Black Phone (2021).
—Derek Lawrence, Entertainment Weekly, 2 June 2026
Domingo could handle the sudden slide into horror, having also played Joe Jackson this year, but the gory resolution seemed unnecessary.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 2 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for horror
Recent Examples of Synonyms for horror
Noun
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Doue and Dembele also drop into midfield, while Kvaratskhelia is his usual destructive self off the left, rounding off a nightmare of rotations and raw running power that tempts defences out of their shape before smashing through.—
Sarah Shephard,
New York Times,
29 May 2026
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The nightly variance in a league that shot 44 percent from the floor last season is a mathematical nightmare.—
Dieter Kurtenbach,
Mercury News,
29 May 2026
Noun
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Perhaps you got stuck in the mess last week when rush hour traffic was snarled by a tractor-trailer that got stuck on the concrete barrier at the intersection of Stanwix Street and Fort Pitt Boulevard.—
John Shumway,
CBS News,
28 May 2026
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If dishes have been scraped properly before loading, the cycle can usually handle the mess without issue.—
Jessica Safavimehr,
Southern Living,
28 May 2026
Noun
-
All of my rage and fear and wonder.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
1 June 2026
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The computing power needs, the competition from Anthropic, the potential for a more business-to-business stream of revenue, the fear that all of the big institutions that own it will want to cash out, makes this one plain fraught.—
Jim Cramer,
CNBC,
31 May 2026
Noun
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Racine, played by Kara Young, is a beauty in the face but a bullet in the body, ready to attack any and all who shrink back in disgust at the sight of her sister, who is played by Mallori Johnson.—
Doreen St. Félix,
New Yorker,
1 June 2026
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Probably a mixture of disgust for the resource mining and admiration for the use of collective action.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
29 May 2026
Noun
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The budget has $4 million to compensate descendants of the victims of one of the worst racial atrocities in Florida history, a case known as the Groveland Four that dates to 1949.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
28 May 2026
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For a media ecosystem that seldom reports on the atrocities of the counterinsurgency, this episode has drawn weeks of political scrutiny.—
Patrick Peralta,
The Conversation,
28 May 2026
Noun
-
Tony was in agony and there was a lot of blood.—
Amanda Lee Myers,
USA Today,
28 May 2026
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Jack Grealish had rolled on the floor in agony.—
Sam Lee,
New York Times,
25 May 2026
Noun
-
Copyright 2025, all frights reserved.—
Kayla Grant,
PEOPLE,
13 May 2026
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In set-pieces involving the Pooka, dark lighting and strong use of shadow results in some scenes that can give younger viewers a genuine fright.—
Wilson Chapman,
IndieWire,
1 May 2026
Noun
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Schizophrenia, bipolar, autism, anxiety, depression – all of these topics are almost global bestsellers.—
Jon LaPook,
CBS News,
31 May 2026
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While menopause is biological, many of the symptoms associated with it, including sleep disruption, anxiety, mood instability, brain fog, and fatigue, can also be amplified by chronic stress and nervous system overload.—
Meggen Harris,
Forbes.com,
31 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Horror.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/horror. Accessed 5 Jun. 2026.
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