Standard Lemma guide

atrocious

adj · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • ə-trō′-shəs
  • Received-Pronunciation: /əˈtɹəʊ.ʃəs/
  • General-American: /əˈtɹoʊ.ʃəs/
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -əʊʃəs
  • CMU ARPABET: AH0 T R OW1 SH AH0 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Frightful, evil, cruel, or monstrous.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Prisons have been the sites of atrocious mistreatment of prisoners.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Offensive or heinous.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Very bad; abominable, disgusting.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Their taste in clothes is just atrocious.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adjective satellite

Meaning 4

provoking horror- Winston Churchill

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • an atrocious automobile accident
  • a frightful crime of decapitation
  • an alarming, even horrifying, picture
  • war is beyond all words horrible
  • an ugly wound

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: frightful, horrifying, horrible, ugly

Antonyms: none provided

5

adjective satellite

Meaning 5

exceptionally bad or displeasing

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • atrocious taste
  • abominable workmanship
  • an awful voice
  • dreadful manners
  • a painful performance
  • terrible handwriting
  • an unspeakable odor came sweeping into the room

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: abominable, awful, dreadful, painful, terrible, unspeakable

Antonyms: none provided

6

adjective satellite

Meaning 6

shockingly brutal or cruel

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • murder is an atrocious crime
  • a grievous offense against morality
  • a grievous crime
  • no excess was too monstrous for them to commit

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: flagitious, grievous, monstrous

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Latin atrōx (“cruel, fierce, frightful”) + -ious.

Across languages

Translations

97 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: жесток (žestok) — frightful, evil, cruel, monstrous
  • Bulgarian: брутален (brutalen) — frightful, evil, cruel, monstrous
  • Catalan: atroç — frightful, evil, cruel, monstrous
  • Catalan: cruel — frightful, evil, cruel, monstrous
  • Chinese Mandarin: 狠心 (hěnxīn) — frightful, evil, cruel, monstrous
  • Danish: grusom — frightful, evil, cruel, monstrous
  • Dutch: vreselijk — frightful, evil, cruel, monstrous
  • Dutch: verschrikkelijk — frightful, evil, cruel, monstrous
  • Dutch: monsterlijk — frightful, evil, cruel, monstrous
  • Dutch: afgrijselijk — frightful, evil, cruel, monstrous
  • Finnish: julma — frightful, evil, cruel, monstrous
  • Finnish: hirveä — frightful, evil, cruel, monstrous
  • French: atroce — frightful, evil, cruel, monstrous
  • Galician: atroz — frightful, evil, cruel, monstrous
  • Georgian: სასტიკი (sasṭiḳi) — frightful, evil, cruel, monstrous
  • German: grauenhaft — frightful, evil, cruel, monstrous
  • Italian: atroce — frightful, evil, cruel, monstrous
  • Macedonian: ѕве́рски (dzvérski) — frightful, evil, cruel, monstrous
  • Macedonian: грозомо́рен (grozomóren) — frightful, evil, cruel, monstrous
  • Macedonian: же́сток (žéstok) — frightful, evil, cruel, monstrous
  • Polish: zbrodniczy — frightful, evil, cruel, monstrous
  • Polish: odrażający — frightful, evil, cruel, monstrous
  • Portuguese: atroz — frightful, evil, cruel, monstrous
  • Portuguese: cruel — frightful, evil, cruel, monstrous
  • Portuguese: mau — frightful, evil, cruel, monstrous
  • Romanian: atroce — frightful, evil, cruel, monstrous
  • Russian: зве́рский (zvérskij) — frightful, evil, cruel, monstrous
  • Russian: жесто́кий (žestókij) — frightful, evil, cruel, monstrous
  • Slovak: strašný — frightful, evil, cruel, monstrous
  • Slovak: hrozný — frightful, evil, cruel, monstrous
  • Slovak: ukrutný — frightful, evil, cruel, monstrous
  • Slovak: zverský — frightful, evil, cruel, monstrous
  • Slovak: desivý — frightful, evil, cruel, monstrous
  • Slovak: obludný — frightful, evil, cruel, monstrous
  • Slovak: hrôzostrašný — frightful, evil, cruel, monstrous
  • Slovak: monštruózny — frightful, evil, cruel, monstrous
  • Spanish: atroz — frightful, evil, cruel, monstrous
  • Spanish: malvado — frightful, evil, cruel, monstrous
  • Swedish: avskyvärd — frightful, evil, cruel, monstrous
  • Catalan: ofensiu — offensive, heinous
  • Catalan: feridor — offensive, heinous
  • Chinese Mandarin: 令人髮指 /令人发指 (lìngrénfàzhǐ) — offensive, heinous
  • Danish: oprørende — offensive, heinous
  • Dutch: afschuwelijk — offensive, heinous
  • Finnish: hirvittävä — offensive, heinous
  • Finnish: inhottava — offensive, heinous
  • Finnish: karmea — offensive, heinous
  • French: atroce — offensive, heinous
  • Italian: atroce — offensive, heinous
  • Macedonian: у́жасен (úžasen) — offensive, heinous
  • Macedonian: гна́сен (gnásen) — offensive, heinous
  • Portuguese: hediondo — offensive, heinous
  • Romanian: atroce — offensive, heinous
  • Russian: ужа́сный (užásnyj) — offensive, heinous
  • Russian: гну́сный (gnúsnyj) — offensive, heinous
  • Serbo-Croatian: užasan — offensive, heinous
  • Slovak: ohavný — offensive, heinous
  • Slovak: nechutný — offensive, heinous
  • Slovak: hnusný — offensive, heinous
  • Slovak: odporný — offensive, heinous
  • Spanish: ofensivo — offensive, heinous
  • Swedish: förskräcklig — offensive, heinous
  • Bulgarian: отвратителен (otvratitelen) — very bad
  • Catalan: abominable — very bad
  • Catalan: fastigós — very bad
  • Chinese Mandarin: 壞透 /坏透 (huàitòu) — very bad
  • Danish: rædselsfuld — very bad
  • Dutch: weerzinwekkend — very bad
  • Dutch: afgrijselijk — very bad
  • Dutch: verschrikkelijk — very bad
  • Finnish: kauhistuttava — very bad
  • Finnish: hirvittävä — very bad
  • Finnish: hirveä — very bad
  • French: atroce — very bad
  • Hungarian: csapnivaló — very bad
  • Italian: atroce — very bad
  • Macedonian: о́двратен (ódvraten) — very bad
  • Polish: ohydny — very bad
  • Polish: okropny — very bad
  • Portuguese: abominável — very bad
  • Portuguese: asqueroso — very bad
  • Romanian: atroce — very bad
  • Russian: отврати́тельный (otvratítelʹnyj) — very bad
  • Russian: омерзи́тельный (omerzítelʹnyj) — very bad
  • Russian: гну́сный (gnúsnyj) — very bad
  • Serbo-Croatian: grozan — very bad
  • Slovak: hrozný — very bad
  • Slovak: katastrofálny — very bad
  • Slovak: tragický — very bad
  • Slovak: príšerný — very bad
  • Slovak: desný — very bad
  • Slovak: zúfalý — very bad
  • Slovak: otrasný — very bad
  • Spanish: atroz — very bad
  • Swedish: förhatlig — very bad
  • Swedish: avskyvärd — very bad
  • Swedish: ohygglig — very bad