Horrible

'hɒrɪbl

adjectiveBeginner🔥Very CommonEmotion
1 meaning1 idiom/phrase3 questions

Definitions

1

Causing or likely to cause horror; extremely unpleasant or bad.

'hɒrɪbl

adjectivenegativeBeginner
Emotion

The weather was absolutely horrible today.

💡 Simply: Imagine eating something that makes your face scrunch up and you say, 'Yuck!' That's horrible!

👶 For kids: Something horrible is something very bad or scary.

More Examples

2

The accident scene was a horrible sight.

3

She had a horrible experience at the dentist.

How It's Used

General

"The food tasted horrible."

Movies/Literature

"The movie had a horrible plot twist."

Idioms & expressions

horrible to behold

Extremely unpleasant or shocking to look at.

"The aftermath of the fire was horrible to behold."

From Old French *horrible* and Latin *horribilis* ('causing to shudder, dreadful'), from *horrere* ('to bristle, shudder').

Used since the late 14th century, initially meaning 'causing horror or terror'.

Memory tip

Think of a horror movie; what you see or hear makes you feel horrible.

Word Origin

LanguageLatin
Original meaning

"causing to shudder, dreadful"

horrible experiencehorrible weatherhorrible accidenthorrible taste

Common misspellings

horiblehorribel

Usage

65%Spoken
35%Written