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View synonyms for

horror

[ hawr-er, hor- ]

noun

  1. an overwhelming and painful feeling caused by something frightfully shocking, terrifying, or revolting; a shuddering fear:

    to shrink back from a mutilated corpse in horror.

    Synonyms: , ,

    Antonyms:

  2. anything that causes such a feeling:

    killing, looting, and other horrors of war.

  3. such a feeling as a quality or condition:

    to have known the horror of slow starvation.

  4. a strong aversion; abhorrence:

    to have a horror of emotional outbursts.

    Synonyms: , , , ,

    Antonyms:

  5. Informal. something considered bad or tasteless:

    That wallpaper is a horror. The party was a horror.

  6. horrors, Informal.
    1. extreme depression.


adjective

  1. inspiring or creating horror, loathing, aversion, etc.:

    The hostages told horror stories of their year in captivity.

  2. centered upon or depicting terrifying or macabre events:

    a horror movie.

interjection

  1. horrors, (used as a mild expression of dismay, surprise, disappointment, etc.)

horror

/ ˈɒə /

noun

  1. extreme fear; terror; dread
  2. intense loathing; hatred
  3. often plural a thing or person causing fear, loathing, etc
  4. modifier having a frightening subject, esp a supernatural one

    a horror film

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word History and Origins

Origin of horror1

First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin horror, equivalent to horr- (stem of ǰŧ “to bristle with fear”; horrendous ) + -or -or 1; replacing Middle English orrour, from Anglo-French, from Latin ǰō-, stem of horror
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Word History and Origins

Origin of horror1

C14: from Latin: a trembling with fear; compare hirsute
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Idioms and Phrases

see under throw up one's hands .
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Synonym Study

See terror.
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

And one day, when this is over — when the horror is fully brought to light — the world will be asked: How did you let this happen?

From

Last weekend was the release of his newest project, "Sinners," a vampire horror film set in the Mississippi Delta in 1932.

From

Former assistant head teacher Darrel Campbell described the incident as like "something out of a horror movie", and said there needed to be discussions over the safety of pupils and staff in schools across Wales.

From

Enter Giacomo Castelveto: an Italian Protestant who found himself exiled in England, where he could only watch with growing horror as his new countrymen boiled and mangled their salads into an absolute mess.

From

The vast majority were Jews, with Soviet prisoners of war, Sinti and homosexuals among other groups to be engulfed by the horrors of the camp.

From

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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