horrendous

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /hɔˈrɛndəs/ UK /hɒˈrɛndəs/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
extremely unpleasant, shocking, or dreadful

The accident left horrendous damage along the entire highway.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · extremely unpleasant,... horrible dreadful appalling frightful terrible atrocious ghastly hideous

Opposites

wonderful delightful pleasant lovely

Word family

Derived forms horrendously

Related forms horror horrid horrific horrify

Etymology

From Latin horrendus ('dreadful, terrible'), the gerundive of horrēre ('to bristle, shudder, tremble with fear').

horrendus Latin horrēre Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# horrendous

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /hɔˈrɛndəs/
**IPA (UK):** /hɒˈrɛndəs/

## Meanings
1. extremely unpleasant, shocking, or dreadful

## Examples
- The accident left horrendous damage along the entire highway.

## Synonyms
- horrible
- dreadful
- appalling
- frightful
- terrible
- atrocious
- ghastly
- hideous

## Antonyms
- wonderful
- delightful
- pleasant
- lovely

## Derived Forms
- horrendously

## Related Forms
- horror
- horrid
- horrific
- horrify

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: horrendus
- Root: horrēre

## Etymology
From Latin horrendus ('dreadful, terrible'), the gerundive of horrēre ('to bristle, shudder, tremble with fear').

## AI Etymology
Horrendous comes from Latin horrendus ('dreadful, terrible'), the gerundive of horrēre ('to bristle, shudder, tremble with fear'). The etymological trail includes Latin horrendus and Latin horrēre. As an adjective, horrendous describes what is extremely unpleasant, shocking, or dreadful. The same family is visible in derived forms such as horrendously and related forms such as horror, horrid, horrific, and horrify.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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