horror
horror
Pronunciation
horror: /ˈhɒrər/
hor-: /hɒr/
-ror: /ər/
Word Form Variations
Noun:
Singular: horror
Plural: horrors
Verb: (to horrify)
Base form: horrify
Third-person singular present: horrifies
Past tense: horrified
Past participle: horrified
Present participle: horrifying
Adjective: (horrible, horrendous, horrific)
Base form: horrible, horrendous, horrific
Comparative: more horrible, more horrendous, more horrific
Superlative: most horrible, most horrendous, most horrific
Adverb: (horribly, horrendously, horrifically)
Definitions, Synonyms and Antonyms
Noun
A profound feeling of intense fear, dread, or dismay, often accompanied by a sense of revulsion or shock.
Synonyms: terror, dread, fear, panic, revulsion, shock, dismay, alarm, fright
Antonyms: delight, joy, pleasure, calm, serenity, relief
Something that causes such a feeling; a person, event, or situation that is extremely unpleasant, shocking, or morally reprehensible.
Synonyms: atrocity, nightmare, monstrosity, abomination, outrage, disaster, tragedy, evil
Antonyms: blessing, wonder, joy, delight, miracle
Verb (to horrify)
To cause someone to feel intense shock, fear, or disgust.
Synonyms: appall, shock, terrify, dismay, outrage, sicken, disgust, alarm, fright
Antonyms: delight, please, gladden, soothe, comfort, reassure
Adjective (horrible)
Causing or capable of causing horror; extremely unpleasant, dreadful, or shocking.
Synonyms: dreadful, terrible, awful, ghastly, frightful, horrendous, horrific, shocking, repulsive, disgusting
Antonyms: pleasant, delightful, wonderful, lovely, enjoyable, beautiful
Adverb (horribly)
In a horrible manner; in a way that causes horror or is extremely unpleasant.
Synonyms: terribly, awfully, dreadfully, shockingly, gruesomely, hideously, appallingly
Antonyms: wonderfully, pleasantly, beautifully, delightfully, excellently
Examples of Use
Books: "The novel delved into the psychological horror of war, depicting the protagonist's descent into madness." (From a review of "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien, The New York Times Book Review, March 1990)
Newspapers: "Residents expressed their horror at the discovery of ancient human remains during the construction project." (The Daily Nation, May 2024)
Online Publications: "The viral video captured the sheer horror of the building's collapse." (BuzzFeed News, February 2023)
Film (Entertainment Medium): "Many critics praised the film for its ability to build suspense and deliver genuine jump-scare horror." (From a review of "A Quiet Place Part II" on Rotten Tomatoes, May 2021)
Television (Entertainment Medium): "The series often explores themes of cosmic horror, where humanity confronts incomprehensible entities." (Description of "Lovecraft Country" on HBO, August 2020)
Video Games (Entertainment Medium): "Players navigate a desolate landscape filled with grotesque creatures, embodying survival horror at its finest." (Review of "Resident Evil Village" on IGN, May 2021)
Podcasts (Entertainment Medium): "This week's episode recounts true crime stories that are pure horror, delving into the dark side of human nature." (From the podcast "My Favorite Murder," July 2023)
General Public Discourse: "The pictures coming out of the disaster zone are just a horror." (Comment by a person interviewed on a news program, July 2024)
General Public Discourse: "The company's latest quarterly report was an absolute horror for investors." (Statement overheard in a business meeting, June 2024)
Social Media (Online Platform): "The level of injustice in the world today is a horror that we must confront." (Tweet by a prominent activist, April 2024)
10 Quotes Using Horror
"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown, from which springs all other fears, and the greatest of these is horror." (H.P. Lovecraft, Supernatural Horror in Literature, 1927)
"The horror! The horror!" (Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness, 1899)
"I have a horror of lists." (Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar, 1963)
"One of the things I know about the human heart is its capacity for self-deception, and the horror that can come from that." (Joyce Carol Oates, Interview with The Paris Review, 1978)
"Man is the only animal for whom his own existence is a problem which he has to solve and from which he cannot escape." (Erich Fromm, Escape from Freedom, 1941 - While Fromm does not use the word "horror" in this specific quote, his work frequently touches upon existential dread and the "horror" of freedom and isolation, often implied.)
"There is nothing alive more terrible than a man driven to horror." (Sophocles, Antigone, c. 441 BC)
"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." (Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere's Fan, 1892 - While not directly using "horror," the play often explores societal horror and hypocrisy, with this quote being a contrast.)
"Human beings are not born once and for all on the day their mothers give birth to them, but that life obliges them over and over again to give birth to themselves." (Gabriel García Márquez, Love in the Time of Cholera, 1985 - This quote, while not containing "horror," speaks to the challenging, sometimes horrifying, process of self-creation and adaptation.)
"The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it." (Albert Einstein - While often attributed to Einstein, this exact wording is not consistently found in his documented writings; it reflects a sentiment often associated with the horror of inaction.)
"And he looked upon his work and saw that it was good, but man looked upon his work and saw that it was horror." (Adapted from Genesis, reflecting a common modern sentiment about the destructive potential of human endeavors.)
Etymology
The word "horror" has a pretty vivid origin story! It comes from the Latin verb "horrēre," which had a few meanings, but the most important one for "horror" was "to bristle" or "to shudder."
Imagine being so scared or cold that your hair stands on end, or you start to shiver uncontrollably. That physical reaction—the bristling hair and shuddering—is the core idea behind the original Latin meaning. It was about a bodily response to something unsettling.
Over time, this physical reaction evolved to describe the feeling that caused it. So, the "bristling" or "shivering" from fear or cold became associated with the strong feeling of dread or terror itself.
The word "horror" then traveled into English through Old French, where it was "horror" or "orror." Its first known use in English, as a noun, dates back to the Middle English period (1150-1500), with the earliest evidence specifically cited as 1382 in the Wycliffite Bible.
At first, it still carried a sense of "a shuddering" or "a feeling of disgust." But by the 16th and 17th centuries, it had mostly settled into its main meaning today: a very strong feeling of fear, dread, or shock. So, the physical symptom of fear became the name for the emotion itself.
Phrases + Idioms Containing Horror
To my horror: Used to express dismay or shock at something unexpected.
Horror story: A narrative, often true, describing a particularly dreadful or unpleasant experience.
Horror show: A chaotic or disastrous event; something extremely unpleasant to witness.
The horror of it all: An exclamation emphasizing the profound dread or shock of a situation.
In horror: Reacting with intense fear or revulsion.
Facing the horror: Confronting a terrible or terrifying situation.
A look of horror: An expression on someone's face indicating great fear or disgust.
Sheer horror: Utter and complete terror or dismay.
To recoil in horror: To physically pull back due to extreme fear or disgust.
The stuff of horror: Something that is terrifying or would make for a frightening story.
Vocabulary-Based Stories from SEA
Source Information
Definition of horror from The Academic Glossary at Self Exploration Academy, a Urikville Press Publication. © All rights reserved.
