I. ˈhȯrə(r), ˈhär- noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English orrour, horrour, from Middle French orror, horror, horreur, from Latin horror action of trembling or shuddering, terror, horror, from horrēre to bristle, tremble, shudder + -or; akin to Old English gorst gorse, Greek chēr hedgehog, chersos dry land, mainland, Old Irish garb rough, Sanskrit harsate he becomes stiff, resists, shudders; basic meaning: stiffening
1.
a. : a painful emotion of intense fear, dread, or dismay : consternation
I saw astonishment giving place to horror on the faces of the people about me — H.G.Wells
only to find to my horror that the dealer knew its value as well as I — H.J.Laski
b. : intense aversion or repugnance
shrank from the task with all the horror of a well-bred English gentleman — Virginia Woolf
the Spanish horror of any taint of Moorish blood — A.H.Quinn
2.
a. : the quality of inspiring horror : repulsive, horrible, or dismal quality or character
statements emphasizing the horror of this disclosure — Elmer Davis
sat in silence … contemplating the horror of their lives — Liam O'Flaherty
b. : something (as an experience, event, or object) that inspires horror : something that is horrible
for him the reef was not a beautiful thing but a horror — Alan Moorehead
I know that this Nazi horror has to be destroyed — Upton Sinclair
made speeches, and hired lawyers, but was unable to avert the horror — Alva Johnston
c. horrors plural
(1) : a state of extreme nervous depression or apprehension : blues , nerves
smells and … sounds which could give one the horrors — Marcia Davenport
his nervous breakdowns, the attacks of the horrors he is known to have suffered from — V.S.Pritchett
one of their best batsmen was in the horrors — Ray Robinson
(2) : delirium tremens
came home roaring drunk and that night had the horrors
Synonyms: see fear
II. adjective
: specializing in or marked by themes or incidents of extreme violence, cruelty, or weird or macabre quality : calculated to inspire feelings of dread or horror : bloodcurdling
some horror stories from the Old Testament — J.C.Swaim
an Elizabethan horror play — Geoffrey Grigson
has the strange fascination of a horror novel — Alfred Frankfurter
horror comics