Complete Definition of "horrible"

English

Etymology
First attested in ME.<ref name"AHD-etym">The <b>American Heritage<sup>®</sup> Dictionary of the English Language<b>, Fourth Edition</ref> (alternately as term|horrible|langenm and term|orrible|langenm)<ref name"D.C-etym">Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1·1)</ref> in 1303<ref name"EOD-etym">Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper</ref>: from OF.<ref name"AHD-etym"/><ref name"D.C-etym"/> term|horrible|langfro<ref name"EOD-etym"/>, from L. term|horribilis|langla<ref name"AHD-etym"/><ref name"D.C-etym"/><ref name"EOD-etym"/>, from term|horrere|horr(�re)|bristle with fear<ref name"D.C-etym"/><ref name"EOD-etym"/>; shudder<ref name"EOD-etym"/>; stand on end<ref name"D.C-etym"/>; tremble<ref name"AHD-etym"/>|langla + term|-ibilis||-ible|langla<ref name="D.C-etym"/>.

Pronunciation
a|RP IPA|/�h�ɹɪbl/
audio|en-us-horrible.ogg|Audio (US)

Noun
en-noun

  1. A thing that causes horror; a terrifying thing, particularly a prospective bad consequence asserted as likely to result from an act.

#*1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick
#*:Here's a carcase. I know not all that may be coming, but be it what it will, I'll go to it laughing. Such a waggish leering as lurks in all your horribles!
#*1982, United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, The Genocide Convention: Hearing Before the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate
#*:A lot of the possible horribles conjured up by the people objecting to this convention ignore the plain language of this treaty.
#*1991, Alastair Scott, Tracks Across Alaska: A Dog Sled Journey
#*:The pot had previously simmered skate wings, cods' heads, whales, pigs' hearts and a long litany of other horribles.
#*2000, John Dean, CNN interview, January 21, 2000:
#*:I'm trying to convince him that the criminal behavior that's going on at the White House has to end. And I give him one horrible after the next. I just keep raising them. He sort of swats them away.
#*2001, Neil K. Komesar, Law's Limits: The Rule of Law and the Supply and Demand of Rights
#*:Many scholars have demonstrated these horribles and contemplated significant limitations on class actions.

  1. A person wearing a comic or grotesque costume in a parade of horribles.

Translations
trans-top|terrifying thing
Finnish: kauheus
trans-bottom

Adjective
en-adj

  1. Causing horror; terrible; shocking.
  2. tremendous|Tremendously wrong or errant.

Quotations
(causing horror, terrible)
"Some of us have had plastic surgery on our faces and fingerprints. Right now we have a horrible job; we're waiting for the war to begin and, as quickly, end." - Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury, 1953
"Strangers fainted dead away at the sight of the Laughing Man's horrible face. Acquaintances shunned him." - The Laughing Man, J. D. Salinger, The New Yorker, March 19, 1949
(tremendously wrong or errant)
"Her own mother lived the latter years of her life in the horrible suspicion that electricity was dripping invisibly all over the house." - My Life and Hard Times, James Thurber, 1933

Translations
trans-top|causing horror, terrible
Finnish: kauhea, kauhistuttava, hirvittävä, karmiva
German: schrecklich
trans-mid
Portuguese: horrível
trans-bottom

trans-top|tremendously wrong or errant
Finnish: kauhea, kauhistuttava, hirvittävä, karmiva
German: schrecklich
trans-mid
trans-bottom

Translations to be checked
checktrans
ttbc|Catalan: horrible, hòrrid
ttbc|Spanish: horrible, horrendo

References
<references/>


French

Adjective
horrible (plural: horribles)

  1. horrible; causing horror.

et:horrible
el:horrible
fr:horrible
gl:horrible
io:horrible
it:horrible
hu:horrible
pl:horrible
fi:horrible
ta:horrible
te:horrible
vi:horrible
zh:horrible

Revision and Credits for"horrible"
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