horrible
[adjective]
Synonyms:
- terrifying, appalling, dreadful, frightful, ghastly, grim, grisly, gruesome, hideous, repulsive, revolting, shocking
- unpleasant, awful, cruel, disagreeable, dreadful, horrid, mean, nasty, terrible

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Contrasted words: gratifying, pleasing, soothing
Related Words: abhorrent, abominable, detestable, hateful, loathsome, obnoxious, offensive, repulsive, revolting

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English Thesaurus: bad, poor, not very good, disappointing, negative, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

hor‧ri‧ble S2 /ˈhɒrəbəl, ˈhɒrɪbəl $ ˈhɔː-, ˈhɑː-/ adjective
[Date: 1200-1300; Language: French; Origin: Latin horribilis, from horrere; ⇒ horror]

1. very bad – used, for example, about things you see, taste, or smell, or about the weather:
The weather has been really horrible all week.
a horrible smell
The food looked horrible, but it tasted OK.

2. very unpleasant and often frightening, worrying, or upsetting:
a horrible dream
I have a horrible feeling that we’re going to miss the plane.

3. rude and unfriendly:
She’s a horrible person.
What a horrible thing to say!
be horrible to somebody
Why are you so horrible to me?
—horribly adverb:
Her face was horribly scarred.
The plan had gone horribly wrong.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

horrible
adj.
VERBS be, feel, look, seem, smell, sound, taste
ADV. bloody (taboo), really That was a really horrible thing to say!
absolutely, perfectly, quite, truly a truly horrible sight
pretty, rather a pretty horrible experience
PREP. to My sister has always been horrible to me.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

bad not good:
a bad idea
His behaviour is getting worse.
poor not as good as it could be or should be:
A poor diet can lead to ill health.
his poor performance at school
not very good not good – often used instead of saying directly that something was ‘bad’, especially when you were disappointed by it:
The film wasn’t very good.
disappointing not as good as you hoped or expected:
Her exam results were disappointing.
a disappointing start to the campaign
negative bad – used when talking about the bad result or effect of something:
All the publicity had a negative impact on sales.
the negative effects of climate change
undesirable formal bad and not wanted:
The policy had some undesirable consequences.
drug abuse and other undesirable behaviour
unfavourable formal unfavourable conditions are not good for doing something:
The boat race was cancelled because of unfavourable weather.
awful/terrible/dreadful especially British English very bad:
The movie was awful.
Her house is in a terrible state.
a dreadful crime
horrible very bad, especially in a way that shocks or upsets you:
He describes prison as ‘a horrible place’.
It was a horrible exprerience.
disgusting smelling or tasting very bad:
The food was disgusting.
The fish smelled disgusting.
lousy /ˈlaʊzi/ informal very bad or disappointing:
The weather has been lousy all week.
I’m fed up with this lousy job.
ghastly /ˈɡɑːstli $ ˈɡæstli/ British English informal very bad:
I’ve had a ghastly day.
a ghastly mistake
severe severe problems, injuries, illnesses etc are very bad and serious:
The country faces severe economic problems.
severe delays
He suffered severe head injuries in a car crash.
atrocious/appalling/horrendous extremely bad in a way that is shocking:
Her behaviour has been absolutely atrocious.
The country has an appalling human rights record.
abysmal /əˈbɪzməl/ very bad and of a very low standard:
The team’s performance was abysmal.
the abysmal conditions in some prisons

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

horrible very bad and unpleasant:
What’s that horrible smell?
This fish tastes horrible.
disgusting/revolting horrible, especially in a way that makes you feel slightly sick:
I had to take two spoons of some disgusting medicine.
The stench in the room was revolting.
nasty very unpleasant – often used about a taste that stays in your mouth:
Cheap wine sometimes leaves a nasty taste in your mouth.
the nasty smell of bad eggs
nauseating /ˈnɔːzieɪtɪŋ, -si- $ ˈnɒːzi-, -ʃi-/ horrible and making you feel that you are going to vomit – used especially about a smell:
the nauseating smell of stale beer and cigarette smoke
foul /faʊl/ horrible – used especially when there is decay or waste:
There was a foul smell coming from the water.
Whatever it was in that cup, it tasted foul.
horrible/terrible/awful/dreadful very bad and unpleasant:
For one horrible moment, I thought I was going to fall.
The refugees were living in dreadful conditions.
It must have been a terrible worry for them.
Thousands of people lost their jobs – it was awful.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

terrible/awful (also dreadful especially British English) very bad:
The journey was terrible – it took six hours.
The food was good but we had terrible service.
It’s such an awful programme! How can you watch it?
He looked dreadful.
horrible very bad and unpleasant – used especially when something has a strong effect on you and you feel shocked, annoyed, or sick:
This soup tastes horrible.
I got a horrible shock when I saw the bill.
a horrible accident
a horrible thing to say to someone
appalling terrible – especially in a way that is shocking. Appalling is stronger and a little more formal than terrible or horrible:
The refugees are living in appalling conditions.
The teacher said my handwriting was appalling.
disgusting terrible – used about a taste, smell, habit etc, often one that makes you feel sick:
The smell was disgusting and I had to go out.
Do you have to bite your nails? It’s a disgusting habit.
lousy informal terrible – used especially to express annoyance:
I’ve had a lousy day at the office.
This area is a lousy place to live.
hopeless very bad and difficult – used when there is no chance of success or improvement:
We were trying to pay off our debts but it was a hopeless situation.
He was given the almost hopeless task of trying to negotiate a ceasefire.
diabolical British English extremely bad – used to express great disapproval of an action or event:
The prices are diabolical.
a diabolical waste of money
McAndrew gave a diabolical performance on Saturday.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

unkind treating people in a way that makes them unhappy or upset. Unkind sounds rather formal. In everyday English, people usually say mean or nasty:
Children can be very unkind to each other.
a rather unkind remark
mean especially spoken unkind:
Don’t be mean to your sister!
It was a mean thing to do.
nasty deliberately unkind, and seeming to enjoy making people unhappy:
He said some really nasty things before he left.
a nasty man
hurtful unkind – used about remarks and actions:
Joe couldn’t forget the hurtful things she had said.
Couples sometimes do hurtful things to each other.
spiteful deliberately unkind to someone because you are jealous of them or angry with them:
The other women were spiteful to her, and gave her the hardest work to do.
She watched them with spiteful glee (=pleasure).
malicious deliberately behaving in a way that is likely to upset, hurt, or cause problems for someone:
Someone had been spreading malicious rumours about him.
There was a malicious smile on her face.
an act of malicious vandalism
The accusations are malicious.
unsympathetic not seeming to care about someone’s problems, and not trying to help them or make them feel better:
Her parents were very unsympathetic, and told her that she deserved to fail her exam.
an unsympathetic boss
hard-hearted very unsympathetic and not caring at all about other people’s feelings:
Was he hard-hearted enough to leave his son in jail overnight?
a hard-hearted businessman
horrible especially spoken very unkind:
Why is Jack always so horrible to me?
cruel very unkind and deliberately making people feel unhappy or making them suffer physically:
Her father was very cruel to her.
a selfish, cruel woman
wicked /ˈwɪkəd, ˈwɪkɪd/ extremely unkind and behaving in a very immoral way:
a wicked thing to do
the wicked stepmother in Cinderella
sadistic extremely unkind and enjoying making other people suffer:
Their father was a sadistic bully who beat them regularly.
He took a certain sadistic pleasure in his job.
thoughtless/inconsiderate not thinking about the effects of your actions on other people:
It was inconsiderate of him not to say that he would be late.
a thoughtless disregard for other people’s feelings
tactless someone who is tactless carelessly says or does things that are likely to upset someone, without realizing what they are doing:
How could you be so tactless?
a tactless question
insensitive behaving in a way that is likely to upset someone, or not seeming to care about someone’s feelings. Insensitive is rather a formal word:
The article is insensitive to the family and friends of the victim.
He later admitted that some of his remarks were ‘insensitive’.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲