horrendous

Horrendous is popularly used to mean extremely bad—awful, dreadful, or horrible.

It can also mean literally causing horror—horrifying or horrific, as in horrendous violence.

Example: If you’re wondering what cake tastes like when you accidentally use salt instead of sugar, it’s horrendous—completely disgusting and inedible.

The first records of horrendous in English come from the 1600s. It comes from the Latin horrendus, meaning “fearful.” It ultimately derives from the Latin horrēre, which means “to tremble” or “to bristle” (a reference to one’s hair standing on end due to extreme fear) and is the basis of the word horror and the related words horrible, horrific, horrifying, and horrid.

Horrendous is perhaps most popularly used to simply mean “really bad,” in much the same way that horrible, terrible, and awful are often used, as in I had a horrendous time at that party—no one would talk to me! Sometimes, though, horrendous means truly horrific or horrifying, as in In my 30 years on the job, I’ve never seen a crime scene more horrendous than this. Real-life horror like violence can be described as horrendous, but you wouldn’t call a horror movie horrendous to mean it was really scary—you’d probably call it horrifying or terrifying. If it was really stupid and poorly made, though, then could call it horrendous. (Unless it was so bad it was good, in which case you might call it terrific!)

What are some other forms related to horrendous?

• horrendously (adverb)

What are some synonyms for horrendous?

• horrible
• terrible
• awful
• dreadful
• atrocious
• horrid
• horrific
• horrifying

What are some words that share a root or word element with horrendous? 

• horror
• horrify
• abhor

What are some words that often get used in discussing horrendous?

• crime
• violence
• bad
• scare
• frighten

Horrendous can be used in extremely serious context as well as not-so-serious ones. War crimes are truly horrendous, but an actor’s bad accent in a movie can also be described as horrendous.

Just spoke to my sister who lives in Melbourne. It’s truly horrendous what’s happening in Australia. Thankfully she’s safe at the minute but I can’t help but worry

— feckless fox 💙💙💙 (@sam56759067) January 4, 2020

2000s fashion was utterly horrendous

— jessie ⁷ (@dntletmeflv) April 23, 2020

That’s a truly horrendous trade for the Giants. I can’t say much more.

— Will Manso (@WillManso) March 13, 2019

Which of the following words is NOT a synonym for horrendous? 

A. horrible
B. awful
C. terrible
D. terrific