horrific

IPA/həˈrɪfɪk/
KK[hɔrˈɪfɪk]IPA/həˈrɪfɪk/

horrific — adjective

  • horrificpositive
  • more horrificcomparative
  • most horrificsuperlative

1. Something that is horrific is so unpleasant, violent, or shocking that it causes

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

Something that is horrific is so unpleasant, violent, or shocking that it causes a strong feeling of fear and disgust — for example, a terrible car crash, an act of cruelty, or a natural disaster that leaves people injured or dead.

Example

The firefighters arrived at the scene of a horrific car crash on the highway.

collocation: horrific car crash

Amara could not sleep after watching that horrific film about the war.

Common collocations
  • horrific accident
  • horrific crime
  • horrific injuries
  • horrific scene
  • horrific attack
Synonyms
  • terrible

    the most general and common word; weaker than horrific

  • horrifying

    very close in meaning, with a stronger focus on the feeling of fear it produces

  • appalling

    similar strength, but emphasises how shockingly bad something is

Antonyms
  • wonderful

    opposite in causing extremely positive feelings

  • pleasant

    mild opposite for everyday situations

Usage Note

Stronger than everyday words like 'bad' or 'terrible' — horrific is reserved for events or situations that also produce a feeling of horror, such as violence, serious injury, or large-scale destruction.

Common Mistakes

The weather today is horrific.
The weather today is terrible.
'horrific' is too strong for everyday bad weather; use it only for things that cause real shock or horror.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All three words describe something extremely unpleasant, but they differ in strength and focus. Terrible is the most general and is used for everything from bad weather ('a terrible storm') to serious tragedy ('a terrible loss'). Horrifying is stronger and more specific — it emphasises the fear or disgust that the event causes in the person who sees or hears about it, as in 'the horrifying images of the accident'. Appalling is closest in strength to horrific and focuses on how shockingly wrong or unacceptable something is, like 'appalling working conditions in the factory'. In everyday speech, terrible is the safest choice; horrific and appalling should be reserved for genuinely shocking situations.

terrible ↗horrifying ↗appalling

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

  • absolutely horrific
  • truly horrific
  • really horrific

Phrases

  • in horrific detail

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Horrific comes from the Latin word 'horror' (meaning fear, trembling, or dread) combined with the suffix '-fic' (from Latin 'facere', meaning to make or do). It entered English through French in the 1600s, first used to describe things that literally cause a feeling of horror.