Complete Definition of "horrid"

English

Etymology
Latin horridus rough, bristly, savage, shaggy, rude; from horrere to bristle. See horrent, horror, ordure

Pronunciation
audio|en-us-horrid.ogg|Audio (US)

Adjective
en-adj

  1. archaic bristling, rough, rugged

#:His haughtie Helmet. horrid all with gold,//Both glorious brightnesse and great terror bredd. - w:Edmund Spenser|Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queen, I-vii-31
#:Horrid with fern, and intricate with thorn. - w:John Dryden|John Dryden
#:Ye grots and caverns shagg's with horrid thorn! - w:Alexander Pope|Alexander Pope, Eloisa to Abelard, I-20

  1. causing horror or dread

#:Give colour to my pale cheek with thy blood,that we the horrider may seem to thoseWhich chance to find us. - Shakespeare, Cymbeline, IV-ii
#:I myself will beThe priest, and boldly do those horrid ritesYou shake to think on. - w:John Fletcher (playwright)|John Fletcher, Sea Voyage, V-iv
#:Not in the legions Of horrid hell. - Shakespeare, Macbeth, IV-iii
#:What say you then to fair Sir Percivale,//And of the horrid foulness that he wrought? - w:Alfred Tennyson|Alfred Tennyson, Merlin and Vivien

  1. offensive, disagreeable, abominable, execrable

#:1668 My Lord Chief Justice Keeling hath laid the constable by the heels to answer it next Sessions: which is a horrid shame. - w:Samuel Pepys|Samuel Pepys, Diary, October 23
#:About the middle of November we began to work on our Ship's bottom, which we found very much eaten with the Worm: For this is a horrid place for Worms. - w:William Dampier|William Dampier, Voyages, I-362
#:Already I your tears survey,//Already hear the horrid things they say. - w:Alexander Pope|Alexander Pope, The Rape of the Lock, IV-108

Translations
trans-top|bristling, rough, rugged
trans-mid
trans-bottom

trans-top|causing horror or dread
Finnish: kauhea
trans-mid
trans-bottom

trans-top|offensive, disagreeable, abominable, execrable
Finnish: kauhea, kamala, inhottava
trans-mid
trans-bottom

Usage notes
"Horrid" and "horrible" originally had different meanings, but have become almost synonymous over the years.

Synonyms
horrible
frightful
awful
appalling
harrowing
dire
revolting
hideous
alarming
shocking
dreadful
terrific
abominable

References
R:Webster 1913
R:Century 1914

fr:horrid
te:horrid
vi:horrid
zh:horrid

Revision and Credits for"horrid"
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