horrify

hor·ri·fy
H4O1R1R1I1F4Y4
UK/ˈhɒɹɪfaɪ/Canada, US/ˈhɔɹəfaɪ/

verb

To cause to feel extreme apprehension or unease; to cause to experience horror.

“The haunted house horrified me, as I passed from one room to the next feeling more and more like I wasn’t going to survive.”

Similar
frightendismayalarmappalappall
OriginLatin horrificare →
RareScrabble 16
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Meanings

verbhorrify (third-person singular simple present horrifies, present participle horrifying, simple past and past participle horrified)

present singular third person horrifies · participle present horrifying · participle past horrified · past horrified

  1. To cause to feel extreme apprehension or unease; to cause to experience horror.

    The haunted house horrified me, as I passed from one room to the next feeling more and more like I wasn’t going to survive.

    Synonyms: frighten

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo cause to feel extreme apprehension or unease; to cause to experience horror.

Similar
frighten

More synonyms by meaning

verbfill with apprehension or alarm; cause to be unpleasantly surprised

Similar
dismayalarmappalappall
Broader
frightenfrightscare
Also see
affrightalarmappalappalldismayfrightengive someone the shitsgrillhorrorizemortifypetrifyscare the hell out ofscare the shit out of

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinhorrificare
  2. Englishhorrify

From horror + -ify, or borrowed from Latin horrificare (cf. French horrifier). 1791, in form horrifying.

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian ужасявам, шокирам
  • ужасявам (užasjavam)to cause to feel extreme apprehension or unease
  • шокирам (šokiram)to cause to feel extreme apprehension or unease
Czech děsit
  • děsitto cause to feel extreme apprehension or unease
Finnish kauhistuttaa, hirvittää
  • kauhistuttaato cause to feel extreme apprehension or unease
  • hirvittääto cause to feel extreme apprehension or unease
German entsetzen, erschrecken
  • entsetzento cause to feel extreme apprehension or unease
  • erschreckento cause to feel extreme apprehension or unease
  • schockierento cause to feel extreme apprehension or unease
Latin horrificō
  • horrificōto cause to feel extreme apprehension or unease
Romanian înfiora, îngrozi
  • înfiorato cause to feel extreme apprehension or unease
  • îngrozito cause to feel extreme apprehension or unease
  • oripilato cause to feel extreme apprehension or unease
Spanish horripilar
  • horripilarto cause to feel extreme apprehension or unease
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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