horrible

adjective

hor·​ri·​ble ˈhȯr-ə-bəl 

ˈhär-

1

: marked by or arousing painful and intense fear, dread, dismay, or aversion : marked by or arousing horror

a horrible accident

2

: extremely bad or unpleasant

a horrible mistake

horrible food

horrible noun

horribleness noun

horribly

ˈhȯr-ə-blē 

ˈhär-

adverb

Synonyms

• appalling
• atrocious
• awful
• dreadful
• frightful
• ghastly
• grisly
• gruesome
• grewsome
• hideous
• horrendous
• horrid
• horrific
• horrifying
• lurid
• macabre
• monstrous
• nightmare
• nightmarish
• shocking
• terrible
• terrific

Examples of horrible in a Sentence

He suffered a horrible death.

The crime scene was too horrible to describe.

The team had a horrible season last year.

He realized that he had made a horrible mistake.

Recent Examples on the Web

The idea is this: dystopias are horrible, and utopias are perfect (and therefore not feasible, and potentially also menacing and pre-dystopian.) Protopias, on the other hand, are achievable. —Neda Ulaby, NPR, 1 Apr. 2024

Tesla’s horrible, no good, very bad, ‘nightmare’ first quarter Deliveries for the standard SU7 and SU7 Pro may take between 18 and 21 weeks, while deliveries for the SU7 Max could take between 27 and 30 weeks, Reuters reports. —William Gavin, Quartz, 1 Apr. 2024

But Alicia read what was happening and saw only a horrible trap. —Camille Butera, WIRED, 1 Apr. 2024

The next episode discusses the case of Karl Karlsen, a man whose wife and son died decades apart in what first appeared to be horrible accidents. —Ivan Pereira, ABC News, 1 Apr. 2024

Kannan couldn’t believe that this little sign meant to protect children could lead to such a horrible tragedy. —Julia Prodis Sulek, The Mercury News, 24 Mar. 2024

Harry Litman: Aileen Cannon’s handling of Trump’s classified records case just went from bad to horrible. —Anthony De Leon, Los Angeles Times, 21 Mar. 2024

Karen sets out to find them – and encounters a horrible truth. —Addie Morfoot, Variety, 21 Mar. 2024

The strongest performance is Burnett’s as the aunt, an absolutely horrible schemer who spends much of the show slowly recovering consciousness. —Tom Gliatto, Peoplemag, 20 Mar. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English orible, horrible, borrowed from Anglo-French, borrowed from Latin horribilis, from horrēre "to be stiffly erect, bristle (of hair, weapons, plants), shudder, shiver" + -ibilis "capable of exhibiting or causing (the action of the verb)" — more at horror entry 1, -able

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

horrible

adjective

hor·​ri·​ble ˈhȯr-ə-bəl 

ˈhär-

1

: marked by or arousing horror

2

: extremely unpleasant or bad

horrible food

horribly

-blē 

adverb