Standard Lemma guide

horrific

adj · 3 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.

  • General-American: /həˈɹɪfɪk/
  • General-American: /hɔˈɹɪfɪk/
  • General-American: /hɑˈɹɪfɪk/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /həˈɹɪfɪk/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • New-Zealand: /hɘˈɹɘfɘk/
  • New-Zealand: /hɔˈɹɘfɘk/
  • rhymes with -ɪfɪk
  • CMU ARPABET: HH AO0 R IH1 F IH0 K Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Causing horror; horrifying.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • a horrific sight
  • a horrific injury

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: affreux, alarming, spine-tingling, appalling, awful, eldritch, buggish, butt-clenching, buttock-clenching, dismayful, dreadful, fearful, flaysome, flesh-crawling, formidable, freaky, frightening, frightensome, frightful, ghastly, ghostly, grisly, hair-curling, hair-raising, horrible, horrid, horrific, horrifying, horripilating, pulse-pounding, scaring, scary, shocking, skin-crawling, terrible, terrifying, terrorsome

Antonyms: none provided

2

adjective satellite

Meaning 2

causing fear or dread or terror

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the awful war
  • an awful risk
  • dire news
  • a career or vengeance so direful that London was shocked
  • the dread presence of the headmaster
  • polio is no longer the dreaded disease it once was
  • a dreadful storm
  • a fearful howling
  • horrendous explosions shook the city
  • a terrible curse

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: awful, dire, direful, dread(a), dreaded, dreadful, fearful, fearsome, frightening, horrendous, terrible

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

grossly offensive to decency or morality; causing horror

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • subjected to outrageous cruelty
  • a hideous pattern of injustice
  • horrific conditions in the mining industry

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: hideous, horrid, outrageous

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin horrificus, from horreō (“to be afraid”) + -ficō (“to make”).

Across languages

Translations

22 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Azerbaijani: vahiməli — causing horror
  • Azerbaijani: dəhşətli — causing horror
  • Azerbaijani: qorxunc — causing horror
  • Azerbaijani: məşum — causing horror
  • Bulgarian: ужасяващ (užasjavašt) — causing horror
  • Chinese Mandarin: 令人恐怖的 (lìngrén kǒngbù de) — causing horror
  • Chinese Mandarin: 可怕的 (kěpà de) — causing horror
  • Chinese Mandarin: 駭人的 /骇人的 (hàirén de) — causing horror
  • Dutch: afschuwelijk — causing horror
  • Finnish: hirveä — causing horror
  • Finnish: hirvittävä — causing horror
  • Finnish: kauhea — causing horror
  • Finnish: kauhistuttava — causing horror
  • French: horrifique — causing horror
  • German: entsetzlich — causing horror
  • Latin: horrificus — causing horror
  • Polish: przerażający — causing horror
  • Spanish: horrorífico — causing horror
  • Spanish: truculento — causing horror
  • Spanish: horrífico — causing horror
  • Tatar: куркыныч (qurqınıç) — causing horror
  • Turkish: korkunç — causing horror