horrible
Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary
Contents |
[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
First attested in Middle English[1] (alternately as horrible and orrible)[2] in 1303[3]: from Old French[1][2] horrible[3], from Latin horribilis[1][2][3], from horr(ēre) (“‘bristle with fear[2][3]; shudder[3]; stand on end[2]; tremble[1]’”) + -ibilis (“‘-ible’”)[2].
[edit] Pronunciation
- (RP) IPA: /ˈhɔɹɪbl/
- Audio (US)help, file
[edit] Noun
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Singular |
Plural |
horrible (plural horribles)
- A thing that causes horror; a terrifying thing, particularly a prospective bad consequence asserted as likely to result from an act.
- 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick
- Here's a carcase. I know not all that may be coming, but be it what it will, I'll go to it laughing. Such a waggish leering as lurks in all your horribles!
- 1982, United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, The Genocide Convention: Hearing Before the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate
- A lot of the possible horribles conjured up by the people objecting to this convention ignore the plain language of this treaty.
- 1991, Alastair Scott, Tracks Across Alaska: A Dog Sled Journey
- The pot had previously simmered skate wings, cods' heads, whales, pigs' hearts and a long litany of other horribles.
- 2000, John Dean, CNN interview, January 21, 2000:
- I'm trying to convince him that the criminal behavior that's going on at the White House has to end. And I give him one horrible after the next. I just keep raising them. He sort of swats them away.
- 2001, Neil K. Komesar, Law's Limits: The Rule of Law and the Supply and Demand of Rights
- Many scholars have demonstrated these horribles and contemplated significant limitations on class actions.
- 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick
- A person wearing a comic or grotesque costume in a parade of horribles.
[edit] Translations
terrifying thing
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[edit] Adjective
horrible (comparative more horrible, superlative most horrible)
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Positive |
Comparative |
Superlative |
- Causing horror; terrible; shocking.
- 1953, Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451:
- Some of us have had plastic surgery on our faces and fingerprints. Right now we have a horrible job; we're waiting for the war to begin and, as quickly, end.
- 1949, J. D. Salinger, The Laughing Man:
- Strangers fainted dead away at the sight of the Laughing Man's horrible face. Acquaintances shunned him.
- 1953, Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451:
- Tremendously wrong or errant.
- 1933, James Thurber, My Life and Hard Times:
- Her own mother lived the latter years of her life in the horrible suspicion that electricity was dripping invisibly all over the house.
- 1933, James Thurber, My Life and Hard Times:
[edit] Related terms
[edit] Translations
causing horror, terrible
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tremendously wrong or errant
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
[edit] References
- Notes:
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1·1)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
[edit] French
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Adjective
horrible (plural: horribles)
- horrible; causing horror.
[edit] Spanish
[edit] Adjective
horrible m. and f. (plural horribles)