Synonyms for horrible
- adjective
Most common
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Atrocious
atrocious, horrid, terrible, horrifying, horrific, awful, hideous, bad, dreadful, heinous, appalling, ghastly, ugly, frightful, dire, scary, terrific, terrifying, revolting, shocking, abominable, gruesome
2. Fourth-rate
Other
messed-up, harrowing, ill-behaved, deityforsaken rare
Definitions
- adj. 1
Causing horror; terrible; shocking.
- adj. 2
Tremendously bad.
Related words
- Word family
- horribleness horribly horrendous horrific horrify horror
Example sentences
- terrible Terrible shooting broke out the night before last.
- horrific Uncover the horrific truth of this shocking story.
- horrifying Santiago told Rima about his horrifying discovery.
- horrid The ivy is good because it obscures those horrid cables.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| horrible | rising | |
| terrible | rising | |
| horrific | rising | |
| horrifying | rising | |
| horrid | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 3 letters
- bad1
- 4 letters
- ugly2, dire1
- 5 letters
- awful2, scary2
- 6 letters
- horrid2
- 7 letters
- hideous3, heinous2, ghastly2
- 8 letters
- terrible3, shocking2, terrific3, horrific3, dreadful2, gruesome2
- 9 letters
- appalling3, atrocious3, harrowing3, revolting3, frightful2
- 10 letters
- terrifying4, horrifying4, abominable5
- 13 letters
- deityforsaken
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (ugly2 = 2 syllables).