appall

English

Alternative forms

• appal (occasionally in Commonwealth English)

Etymology

Old French apalir (“to grow pale, make pale”); a (Latin ad) + palir (“to grow pale, to make pale”), pâle (“pale”). See pale, a., and compare with pall.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA: /ʌˈpɔl/

Verb

appall (third-person singular simple present appalls, present participle appalling, simple past and past participle appalled)

1. (transitive) To depress or discourage with fear; to impress with fear in such a manner that the mind shrinks, or loses its firmness; to overcome with sudden terror or horror; to dismay; as, the sight appalled the stoutest heart.

   The house of peers was somewhat appalled at this alarum. --Edward Hyde Clarendon.

Synonyms

• dismay, terrify, daunt, frighten, affright, scare, depress
• See also Wikisaurus:frighten

Translations

To depress or discourage with fear; to impress with fear

Bulgarian: плаша (bg), ужасявам (bg) Dutch: weerzinwekkend (nl) Finnish: kauhistuttaa (fi), tyrmistyttää (fi) Italian: impallidire (it)

Polish: zbulwersować, bulwersować Russian: ужасать, устрашать, пугать, потрясать (ru), приводить в смятение (ru) Spanish: consternado (es), consternar (es)