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.)

horrible boss

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)

Click here for more vocabulary words.

Published on October 8, 2018