horrible

adjective

hor·​ri·​ble ˈhȯr-ə-bəl How to pronounce horrible (audio)
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 adverb

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 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 By the time realistic politics take hold, whatever opportunities this horrible war creates for Israel may have been lost. Andrew Exum, The Atlantic, 18 Mar. 2024 The dreams and reality seemed to blend together — as if one horrible night was playing on an endless loop — never ending, never beginning again, just always there, the pressure building like a volcano deep within. Jeff Seidel, USA TODAY, 17 Mar. 2024 Apologize for putting the two of you in this horrible position. Harriette Cole, The Mercury News, 16 Mar. 2024 Spike Einbinder’s horrible roommate and James Scully’s upper-crust underminer are easily recognizable foils. David Fear, Rolling Stone, 1 Mar. 2024 The only upside to this horrible disposition is comedy. Jennifer Maas, Variety, 9 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'horrible.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of horrible was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near horrible

Cite this Entry

“Horrible.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/horrible. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

horrible

adjective
hor·​ri·​ble ˈhȯr-ə-bəl How to pronounce horrible (audio)
ˈhär-
1
: marked by or arousing horror
2
: extremely unpleasant or bad
horrible food
horribly adverb

More from Merriam-Webster on horrible

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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