horrible

If something is horrible, it’s really, really bad. Other similar words are awful and terrible.

• The cake we ate at the party was horrible.
• It tasted horrible.
• The workers did a horrible job of fixing the road.
• Bob’s hair looks horrible. Who cut it?
• The police made a horrible mistake and arrested the wrong person.
• Vanessa has a horrible boss.
• That sounds horrible.
• Ebola is a horrible-sounding disease. (The symptoms of the disease and the word itself sound terrible.)

Vanessa has a horrible boss.

When responding to news of a tragedy involving death or some other bad situation, the word "horrible" is often used:

• I just heard some horrible news.
• I feel horrible about what happened.
• I’m so sorry to hear about what happened. This is just horrible.

The word "horribly" is an adverb:

• Something has gone horribly wrong.
• You are horribly mistaken if you think he’s a good choice. (horribly mistaken = wrong)

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Published on October 8, 2018