horrendous

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/həˈɹɛndəs/dated/əˈɹɛndəs/

adjective

Extremely bad; awful; terrible.

“My journey to work this morning was horrendous!”

Less commonScrabble 14

Meanings

adjectivehorrendous (comparative more horrendous, superlative most horrendous)

comparative more horrendous · superlative most horrendous

  1. Extremely bad; awful; terrible.

    My journey to work this morning was horrendous!

    3 more examples

    There was horrendous carnage at the scene of the plane crash.

    But was it responsible governance to pass the Longitude Act without other efforts to protect British seamen? Or might it have been subterfuge—a disingenuous attempt to shift attention away from the realities of their life at sea. Conditions were horrendous aboard most British naval vessels at the time. Scurvy and other diseases ran rampant, killing more seamen each year than all other causes combined, including combat.

    2012 March 28, William E. Carter, Merri Sue Carter, “The British Longitude Act Reconsid ered”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 87

    Maguire made an horrendous meal of the most basic piece of work to make it a treble helping of dreadful defending by England and for all the flair and fantasy of their attacking play there is no hiding away from the fact this is a serious weakness.

    2019 September 10, Phil McNulty, “'England horribly fallible in defence' against Kosovo in Euro 2020 qualifying”, in BBC Sport

    Synonyms: awful, horrific, terrible, dreadful

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveExtremely bad; awful; terrible.

More synonyms by meaning

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinhorrendus
  2. Englishhorrendous

Borrowed from Latin horrendus, future passive participle (gerundive) of horreō (“to dread”) + -ous.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Esperanto aĉa
  • aĉaextremely bad; awful; terrible
Finnish hirveä, kauhea
  • hirveäextremely bad; awful; terrible
  • kauheaextremely bad; awful; terrible
  • hirmuinenextremely bad; awful; terrible
French épouvantable
  • épouvantableextremely bad; awful; terrible
German entsetzlich, horrend
  • entsetzlichextremely bad; awful; terrible
  • horrendextremely bad; awful; terrible
Latin horrendus
  • horrendusextremely bad; awful; terrible
Russian ужа́сный, жу́ткий
  • ужа́сный (užásnyj)extremely bad; awful; terrible
  • жу́ткий (žútkij)extremely bad; awful; terrible
Spanish horrendo
  • horrendoextremely bad; awful; terrible

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with horrendous

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

horrendous. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/horrendous

MLA

“horrendous.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/horrendous. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “horrendous,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/horrendous.

Source: horrendous on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.