horrible

[hawr-uh-buhl, hor-] / ˈhɔr ə bəl, ˈhɒr- /

ADJECTIVE

unpleasant

Synonyms

STRONGEST

abhorrent abominable appalling awful cruel disgusting dreadful eerie frightful ghastly grim grisly gruesome heinous hideous horrendous horrid lousy nasty scandalous scary shameful shocking terrible terrifying

WEAK

beastly detestable disagreeable execrable fairy fearful loathsome lurid mean obnoxious offensive repellent repulsive revolting sickie ungodly unholy unkind

Antonyms

STRONGEST

attractive beautiful calming comforting delightful encouraging gentle good great happy kind magnificent nice pleasant pleasing pretty reputable soothing wonderful

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“There is no way to slice and dice this report to water down the horrible headline,” writes John Ryding, chief economic advisor at Brean Capital.

From Barron's • May 13, 2026

And you’ve seen some horrible examples of how judges have treated their laws clerks and other staff, and that’s awful.

From Slate • May 12, 2026

"Italy has not been of any help to us and Spain has been horrible," he added, criticising them for their response to the war in Iran.

From BBC • May 1, 2026

“That horrible act was stopped because of the courage and professionalism of law enforcement — the officers who responded without hesitation and did their jobs as they were trained to do,” Blanche said Monday.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 29, 2026

He’d bemoan coming to this horrible, beautiful forest at all.

From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman

Vocabulary lists containing horrible

Beowulf vocabulary

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So Bad: Synonyms for "Awful"

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"maggie and milly and molly and may"

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