horrible Definition
hor·rible (hôr′ə bəl, här′-)
adjective
- causing a feeling of horror; terrible; dreadful; frightful
- Informal very bad, ugly, shocking, unpleasant, etc.
Etymology: ME < OFr < L horribilis < horrere: see horrid
horrible Synonyms
horrible
modif.
horrible Usage Examples
Infinitive complement
see: It was horrible to see Blair backing him on this.
Modifying Another Word
- truly: My hair is starting to feel truly horrible: I am in desperate need of a shampoo!
- utterly: Marvelous and utterly horrible, all at the same time.
- absolutely: Their demons were absolutely horrible, which being decoded means they were marvelously chilling to the spine.
- pretty: It's Monday, which is pretty horrible in itself.
- equally: The alternatives of trapping or poisoning are equally horrible for the hares and are far more indiscriminate.
- rather: There would be a rather horrible note of mockery in telling us something of which we can make nothing.
Adjective complement with noun phrase
- say: People don't necessarily have to say something horrible.
- do: You wouldn't do anything horrible like that, would you?
Modifies a noun
- mess: The US and Britain made a horrible mess of Iraq.
- feeling: My job in Birmingham gave me a horrible feeling of wearing the wrong shaped skin everyday.
- stench: I was still a few miles from Mere, when a horrible stench filled the car.
- nightmare: Alex probably hopes to forget this round as one of those horrible nightmares.
- smell: Saturn has a big hole and a horrible smell is spilling out.
- fate: Name the cat G and Exhibit B, who has just saved another cat from a horrible fate.
Used with adjective complement
- smell: I feel healthier, and my kids no longer smell horrible - thats the kind of thing you don't notice until you stop.
- taste: She gave me some herbal medicine and although it tasted horrible, it worked after the first week.
- sound: Dad is currently toying with the idea of setting up a vast caravan site at Shearwater - which sounds horrible to me ears.
- feel: Oh, I feel horrible now, still I expect you know what I mean!
- look: I also have atrophy scarring on both arms which looks horrible due to long term steroid cream use.
Browse dictionary entries near horrible
- ‹ horrent
- ‹ horrendous
- ‹ Horowitz
- ‹ horoscope
- ‹ horology
- ‹ Horologium
- ‹ horologist
- ‹ horologic
- ‹ horologe
- ‹ horny
- horribly ›
- horrid ›
- horrific ›
- horrified ›
- horrify ›
- horripilate ›
- horripilation ›
- horror ›
- horror-stricken ›
- horror-struck ›

