Standard Lemma guide

horrifying

adj · verb · 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

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CMU ARPABET: HH AO1 R AH0 F AY2 IH0 NG Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

adj

Meaning 1

Tending to inspire horror; that horrifies; horrific.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

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

verb

Meaning 2

present participle and gerund of horrify

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: form-of, gerund, participle, present

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

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: atrocious, frightful, horrible, ugly

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Word forms

Inflections and variants

more horrifying — comparative
most horrifying — superlative

Word family

Derived and related words

Derived: horrifyingly, unhorrifying

Related: alarming

Semantic map

Other relationships

Sources

Where this information comes from

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Real reading context

Meaning relationships

Meaning relationships

Examples

Meaning relationships

horrifying in complete knowledge articles