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
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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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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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of horror
The men, women and children who arrived on northbound trains were fleeing the racial terror lynchings, convict leasing, Black Codes and other horrors of the Jim Crow South.
—
Equal Justice Initiative, USA Today, 6 Nov. 2025
The first Gremlins movie was a dark horror comedy directed by Joe Dante and introduced an adorable creature called a Mogwai that’s adopted as a pet by a suburban family.
—James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 6 Nov. 2025
The first thing that struck me about this Tribal was that Jawan clearly had yet to hit his weekly quota of horror movie references so had to go to that topic repeatedly.
—Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 6 Nov. 2025
For arachnophobes, the thought of 111,000 spiders working together in total darkness may sound like something out of a horror movie.
—Alice Gibbs, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for horror
Equal Justice Initiative, USA Today, 6 Nov. 2025
The first Gremlins movie was a dark horror comedy directed by Joe Dante and introduced an adorable creature called a Mogwai that’s adopted as a pet by a suburban family.
—James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 6 Nov. 2025
The first thing that struck me about this Tribal was that Jawan clearly had yet to hit his weekly quota of horror movie references so had to go to that topic repeatedly.
—Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 6 Nov. 2025
For arachnophobes, the thought of 111,000 spiders working together in total darkness may sound like something out of a horror movie.
—Alice Gibbs, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for horror
Recent Examples of Synonyms for horror
Noun
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Fallibility is written into our genetic code, and refereeing is basically a nightmare now for everyone involved.—
Megan Feringa,
New York Times,
9 Nov. 2025
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But more than just a topical procedural thriller, the film also plays out like a Kafka novel about endless invasions of privacy and assumptions of malicious intent that converge to form a modern nightmare.—
Christian Zilko,
IndieWire,
7 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Second shift is a real mess after a blackout strikes the area, forcing Robert (by way of the player) to hack into the city’s electric grid and turn the lights back on one section at a time.—
Christopher Cruz,
Rolling Stone,
7 Nov. 2025
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For larger messes, the stain-resistant rug is also machine-washable for quick and hassle-free maintenance.—
Rachel Trujillo,
PEOPLE,
7 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Cotton argued the shutdown’s cause was not the expiring health care subsidies, but rather Democrats’ fear of blowback from their supporters.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
11 Nov. 2025
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Iran is facing its worst drought in decades, raising fears of evacuations in Tehran while threatening the regime’s stability and nuclear ambitions, according to a leading environmental expert.—
Emma Bussey,
FOXNews.com,
10 Nov. 2025
Noun
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During one Nuggets run late in the second quarter, Warriors coach Steve Kerr sat motionless for several possessions, glaring straight ahead while displaying a look of disgust.—
Joseph Dycus,
Mercury News,
8 Nov. 2025
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Some of Ward’s disgust was with himself for having gotten played.—
Jamie Thompson,
The Atlantic,
6 Nov. 2025
Noun
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These satellite images from late October appearing to show bodies in the streets and bloodstains on the ground, gruesome signs of the atrocities visible from space.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
9 Nov. 2025
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Raymond’s team has been tracking atrocities in Sudan using satellite imagery from NASA and commercial sources.—
Nicolas Niarchos,
New Yorker,
7 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Following months of agony and fundraising, Abeba was eventually able to send enough money to pay for her brother Daniel’s release.—
Mick Krever,
CNN Money,
6 Nov. 2025
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Near those boundaries, microscopic changes in pace or line flip the result, explaining why near-identical putts can alternate between agony and ecstasy.—
Lydia Patrick,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Audiences just can’t get enough of films that offer frights and scares, or even family-friendly flicks that pay homage to spooky season.—
Keith Langston,
PEOPLE,
30 Oct. 2025
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Horror anthologies are a tradition in British cinema, and this collection of bite-sized frights is the granddaddy of them all.—
Katie Rife,
Entertainment Weekly,
30 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The attendees—thirty- and forty-somethings who are members of the bank’s Private Wealth Management (PWM) division, which boasts an average account size of over $75 million—gathered to hash out their anxiety and excitement.—
Emma Burleigh,
Fortune,
9 Nov. 2025
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Barton will have to wait another month to receive his sentence for the six guilty counts the jury returned on charges of sending a grossly offensive electronic communication with intent to cause distress or anxiety to football broadcasters Eni Aluko and Lucy Ward, and TV and radio host Jeremy Vine.—
Greg O'Keeffe,
New York Times,
9 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Horror.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/horror. Accessed 19 Nov. 2025.
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