horror

See also: Horror

English

Alternative forms

• horrour (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English horer, horrour, from Old French horror, from Latin horror (“a bristling, a shaking, trembling as with cold or fear, terror”), from horrere (“to bristle, shake, be terrified”). Displaced native Old English ōga.

Pronunciation

• (UK)
  • (Received Pronunciation, Northern England) IPA^(key): /ˈhɒɹə/
  • (Standard Southern British) IPA^(key): /ˈhɔɹə/
  • (Wales) IPA^(key): /ˈhɒɾə/
  • (Scotland) IPA^(key): /ˈhɔɾəɾ/
• (US, Canada)
  • (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈhoɹɚ/

    • Audio (US):

      (file)

  • (New York City, Philadelphia) IPA^(key): /ˈhɑɹɚ/
  • (Traditional, non-rhotic New York City) IPA^(key): /ˈhɑɹə/
  • (non-rhotic Eastern New England) IPA^(key): /ˈhɒɹə/
  • (some accents) IPA^(key): /ˈhɔɚ/
• (Australia) IPA^(key): /ˈhɔɹə/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈhɒɹə/, [ˈhɔ̟ɹə] ~ [ˈhɞ̠ɹə]
• Homophones: whore, hoar (some rhotic American accents with the horse–hoarse merger)
• Rhymes: -ɒɹə(ɹ), -ɔː(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: horr‧or

Noun

horror (countable and uncountable, plural horrors)

1. (countable, uncountable) An intense distressing emotion of fear or repugnance.
   • 1712, Joseph Addison, Cato: A tragedy, published 1750, page 44:

     Their swarthy Hosts wou'd darken all our Plains, / Doubling the native Horror of the War, / And making Death more grim.

2. (countable, uncountable) Something horrible; that which excites horror.

   I saw many horrors during the war.

   • 1898 July 3, Philadelphia Inquirer, page 22:

     The Home Magazine for July (Binghamton and New York) contains ‘The Patriots' War Chant,’ a poem by Douglas Malloch; ‘The Story of the War,’ by Theodore Waters; ‘A Horseman in the Sky,’ by Ambrose Bierce, with a portrait of Mr. Bierce, whose tales of horror are horrible of themselves, not as war is horrible; ‘A Yankee Hero,’ by W. L. Calver; ‘The Warfare of the Future,’ by Louis Seemuller; ‘Florence Nightingale,’ by Susan E. Dickenson, with two rare portraits, etc.

   • 2009, Devin Watson, Horror Screenwriting‎^[2]:

     Could there be stories with more horror than these?

3. (countable, uncountable) Intense dislike or aversion; an abhorrence.
   • 1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Tragedy in Dartmoor Terrace”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020:

     “Mrs. Yule's chagrin and horror at what she called her son's base ingratitude knew no bounds ; at first it was even thought that she would never get over it. […] ”

4. (uncountable) A genre of fiction designed to evoke a feeling of fear and suspense.
   • 1917 February 11, New York Times, Book reviews, page 52:

     Those who enjoy horror, stories overflowing with blood and black mystery, will be grateful to Richard Marsh for writing ‘The Beetle.’

   1. (countable) An individual work in this genre.
   • 1990, Wayne Jancik, The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, →ISBN, page 156:

     A well-received Johnny Fuller R & B horror called "Haunted House."

   • 2006, Pierluigi on Cinema:

     […] there were hastily produced B movies, such as the peplums, the spaghetti westerns, the detective stories, the horrors.

5. (countable, colloquial) A nasty or ill-behaved person; a rascal or terror.

   The neighbour's kids are a pack of little horrors!

6. (informal) An intense anxiety or a nervous depression; often the horrors.
7. (in the plural, informal) Delirium tremens.
   • 1930, Norman Lindsay, Redheap, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, →OCLC, page 53:

     `My belief is that he had the horrors without knowin' it.'

Synonyms

• nightmare

Hypernyms

• speculative fiction

Derived terms

• analog horror
• analogue horror
• Belsen horror
• body horror
• chamber of horrors
• digital horror
• dry horrors
• ecohorror
• Eurohorror
• folk horror
• fridge horror
• gothic horror
• horror autotoxicus
• horror chamber
• horrorcore
• horrorfest
• horror film
• horror flick
• horrorful
• horrorist
• horrorize
• horrorless
• horrormeister
• horrormonger
• horror movie
• horror of horrors
• horrorous
• horror punk
• horrorscape
• horrorscope
• horror-show
• horror show
• horrorsome
• horror story
• horror-stricken
• horror-struck
• horrorthon
• horror-thriller
• horror vacui
• horrorzine
• house of horrors
• J-horror
• K-horror
• mascot horror
• midnight horror
• nonhorror
• outhorror
• psychological horror
• quiet horror
• shock horror
• survival horror
• technohorror
• whorror

Related terms

• horrendous
• horrible
• horrid
• horrific
• horrifical
• horrification
• horrify

Descendants

• → Japanese: ホラー (horā)
• → Korean: 호러 (horeo)
• → Polish: horror

Translations

intense distressing fear or repugnance

• Albanian: tmerr (sq) m
• Arabic: رُعْب m (ruʕb), خَوْف (ar) m (ḵawf)
• Armenian: սարսափ (hy) (sarsapʻ), ահ (hy) (ah)
• Azerbaijani: vahimə, dəhşət (az)
• Bashkir: ҡурҡыныс (qurqınıs)
• Belarusian: жах m (žax), страх m (strax)
• Bengali: ভয় (bn) (bhoẏ)
• Bulgarian: у́жас (bg) m (úžas), страх (bg) m (strah)
• Catalan: horror (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 恐懼 / 恐惧 (zh) (kǒngjù) 恐怖 (zh) (kǒngbù), 驚悚 / 惊悚 (zh) (jīngsǒng)

• Czech: hrůza (cs) f
• Danish: gru c, rædsel c
• Dutch: gruwel (nl) m
• Esperanto: teruro (eo)
• Estonian: õudus (et), õud, õõv
• Finnish: kauhu (fi), kammo (fi), hirveys (fi)
• French: horreur (fr) m, effroi (fr) m
• Galician: horror m
• Georgian: საშინელება (sašineleba)
• German: Entsetzen (de) n, Schrecken (de) m, Furcht (de) f, Horror (de) m, Grauen (de) n
• Gothic: 𐌿𐍃𐍆𐌹𐌻𐌼𐌴𐌹 f (usfilmei)
• Greek: τρόμος (el) m (trómos)
• Hebrew: אֵימָה (he) f (emá)
• Hindi: दहशत (hi) f (dahśat), आतंक (hi) m (ātaṅk), भय (hi) m (bhay), वहशत (hi) f (vahśat)
• Hungarian: borzalom (hu)
• Icelandic: ógn (is) f
• Indonesian: horor (id), kengerian (id), seram (id)
• Irish: uafás m
• Italian: orrore (it) m
• Japanese: 恐怖 (ja) (きょうふ, kyōfu), 恐れ (ja) (おそれ, osore)
• Kazakh: қорқыныш (qorqınıš), үрей (ürey)
• Khmer: ភេរវារម្មណ៍ (pheirĕəʼviərɑm)
• Korean: 공포(恐怖) (ko) (gongpo), 무서움 (ko) (museoum), 두려움 (ko) (duryeoum)
• Kyrgyz: коркунуч (ky) (korkunuc)
• Latin: horror m
• Latvian: šausmas f
• Lithuanian: siaubas m, šiurpas m
• Macedonian: у́жас m (úžas), страв (mk) m (strav)
• Malay: seram (ms)
• Maltese: orrur m
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: аймшиг (mn) (ajmšig)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: gru f, redsel (no) m

• Occitan: orror (oc)
• Old English: ōga m
• Pannonian Rusyn: ужас m (užas)
• Pashto: دهشت (ps) m (dahšat)
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: وَحْشَت (fa) (vahšat), دَهْشَت (fa) (dahšat), تَرْس (fa) (tars), هَرَاس (fa) (harâs)

• Plautdietsch: Grul f
• Polish: groza (pl) f, strach (pl) m
• Portuguese: horror (pt) m
• Romanian: groază (ro) f, oroare (ro) f, spaimă (ro) f
• Russian: у́жас (ru) m (úžas), страх (ru) m (strax), боя́знь (ru) f (bojáznʹ)
• Sanskrit: घोर (sa) m (ghora)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: у̏жа̄с m

  Latin: ȕžās (sh) m

• Slovak: hrôza f
• Slovene: groza (sl) f
• Spanish: horror (es) m
• Swedish: skräck (sv) c, fruktan (sv) c, fasa (sv) c
• Tajik: даҳшат (dahšat), ваҳшат (vahšat), ҳарос (tg) (haros)
• Tatar: дәһшәт (tt) (dähşät), куркыныч (qurqınıç), курку (qurqu)
• Tocharian B: empelñe
• Tongan: lilifu
• Turkish: korku (tr), dehşet (tr)
• Turkmen: elhençlik, gorky
• Ukrainian: жах m (žax), страх (uk) m (strax)
• Urdu: دَہْشَت f (dahśat), وَحْشَت (ur) f (vahśat)
• Uyghur: قورقۇنچ (qorqunch), دەھشەت (dehshet)
• Uzbek: qoʻrquv (uz), dahshat (uz)
• Vietnamese: sự khiếp (vi), sự ghê rợn (vi)

thing that which excites horror

• Esperanto: teruraĵo
• German: Schrecken (de) m, Gräuel (de) m

intense dislike or aversion

• Bulgarian: отвраще́ние (bg) n (otvrašténie)
• Esperanto: hororo
• Finnish: kammo (fi), inho (fi)
• French: dégoût (fr), aversion (fr), répulsion (fr) f, horreur (fr) f
• German: Abneigung (de) f, Abscheu (de) f
• Russian: отвраще́ние (ru) n (otvraščénije), омерзе́ние (ru) n (omerzénije)

literary genre

• Arabic: رُعْب m (ruʕb)
• Armenian: սարսափ (hy) (sarsapʻ)
• Belarusian: жах m (žax)
• Bulgarian: у́жаси (bg) m pl (úžasi)
• Catalan: terror (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 恐怖 (zh) (kǒngbù)

• Czech: horor (cs) m
• Dutch: horror (nl) m
• Finnish: kauhu (fi), kauhukirjallisuus
• French: horreur (fr) m
• German: Horror (de) m
• Greek: τρόμος (el) m (trómos)
• Indonesian: horor (id)
• Japanese: ホラー (ja) (horā)
• Kazakh: қорқыныш (qorqınıš)
• Korean: 호러 (horeo), 공포(恐怖) (ko) (gongpo)
• Macedonian: у́жаси m pl (úžasi), хо́рор m (hóror)
• Malay: horor, seram (ms)
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: تَرْس (fa) (tars)

• Polish: horror (pl) m
• Portuguese: horror (pt) m
• Russian: у́жас (ru) m (úžas), ужа́стик (ru) m (užástik) (colloquial), хо́ррор (ru) m (xórror) (neologism)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: хо̏рор m

  Latin: hȍror (sh) m

• Slovak: horor (sk) m
• Slovene: horor m
• Swedish: skräck (sv) c
• Tajik: тарс (tg) (tars), даҳшат (dahšat)
• Turkish: korku (tr)
• Ukrainian: жах m (žax)

informal: intense anxiety

• Finnish: täpinät pl
• German: Angstzustand (de) m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Albanian: ^{(please verify)} tmerr (sq)
• Icelandic: ^{(please verify)} hrollvekja (is) f, ^{(please verify)} hryllingur (is) m, ^{(please verify)} óhugnaður m, ^{(please verify)} ósköp n pl
• Irish: ^{(please verify)} adhfhuath m
• Persian: (formally) ^{(please verify)} هراس (fa) (harâs)
• Romanian: ^{(please verify)} spaimă (ro), ^{(please verify)} oroare (ro) f
• Scottish Gaelic: ^{(please verify)} uamhann m, ^{(please verify)} oillt f, ^{(please verify)} uabhas m, ^{(please verify)} uabhann m, ^{(please verify)} sgreamh f
• Telugu: ^{(please verify)} దారుణం (te) (dāruṇaṁ)
• Turkish: ^{(please verify)} dehşet (tr), ^{(please verify)} yılgı (tr), ^{(please verify)} korku (tr)

Further reading

• “horror”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “horror”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “horror”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin horror.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern) [uˈrur]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [oˈro]
• IPA^(key): (Central) [uˈror]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [oˈroɾ]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [oˈror]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Noun

horror m (plural horrors)

1. horror, disgust

   Synonyms: repulsió, aversió

2. terror

   Synonyms: terror, por

3. (figurative) person or thing inspiring the above feelings

Related terms

• horrible
• hòrrid
• horrífic
• horripilar

Further reading

• “horror”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “horror”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “horror” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “horror”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English horror.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɦɔ.rɔr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: hor‧ror

Noun

horror m (uncountable, no diminutive)

1. horror (genre of fiction)

Derived terms

• horrorfilm
• horrorscenario

Related terms

• horreur
• horribel

References

• van der Sijs, Nicoline, editor (2010), “horror”, in Etymologiebank, Meertens Institute

Galician

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin horror.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɔˈroɾ]

Noun

horror m (plural horrores)

1. horror

   Synonyms: espanto, pavor, terror

Related terms

• horrorizar
• horroroso

References

• Antón Santamarina, editor (2006–2013), “horror”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Santamarina, Ernesto X. González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “horror”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega

Hungarian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin horror.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈhorːor]
• Hyphenation: hor‧ror
• Rhymes: -or

Noun

horror (plural horrorok)

1. horror

Declension

Inflection (stem in -o-, back harmony)

	singular	plural
nominative	horror	horrorok
accusative	horrort	horrorokat
dative	horrornak	horroroknak
instrumental	horrorral	horrorokkal
causal-final	horrorért	horrorokért
translative	horrorrá	horrorokká
terminative	horrorig	horrorokig
essive-formal	horrorként	horrorokként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	horrorban	horrorokban
superessive	horroron	horrorokon
adessive	horrornál	horroroknál
illative	horrorba	horrorokba
sublative	horrorra	horrorokra
allative	horrorhoz	horrorokhoz
elative	horrorból	horrorokból
delative	horrorról	horrorokról
ablative	horrortól	horroroktól
non-attributive possessive – singular	horroré	horroroké
non-attributive possessive – plural	horroréi	horrorokéi

Possessive forms of horror

possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	horrorom	horroraim
2nd person sing.	horrorod	horroraid
3rd person sing.	horrora	horrorai
1st person plural	horrorunk	horroraink
2nd person plural	horrorotok	horroraitok
3rd person plural	horroruk	horroraik

Possessive forms of horror

possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	horrorom	horrorjaim
2nd person sing.	horrorod	horrorjaid
3rd person sing.	horrorja	horrorjai
1st person plural	horrorunk	horrorjaink
2nd person plural	horrorotok	horrorjaitok
3rd person plural	horrorjuk	horrorjaik

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *horzōs, remodeled into a rhotic-stem. Equivalent to horreō +‎ -or.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈhɔr.rɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈɔr.ror]

Noun

horror m (genitive horrōris); third declension

1. bristling (standing on end)
2. shaking, shivering, chill
3. dread, terror, horror

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	horror	horrōrēs
genitive	horrōris	horrōrum
dative	horrōrī	horrōribus
accusative	horrōrem	horrōrēs
ablative	horrōre	horrōribus
vocative	horror	horrōrēs

Related terms

• horrendus
• horridus
• horribilis
• horrificus

Descendants

• Catalan: horror
• English: horror
• French: horreur
• Galician: horror
• Italian: orrore
• German: Horror
• Piedmontese: oror
• Portuguese: horror
• Romanian: oroare
• Sicilian: arruri
• Spanish: horror

References

• “horror”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “horror”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "horror", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)

Old French

Alternative forms

• horrour
• horrur

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin horror, horrorem.

Noun

horror oblique singular, f (oblique plural horrors, nominative singular horror, nominative plural horrors)

1. horror or terror

Descendants

• English: horror
• Middle French: horreur
  • French: horreur

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from English horror.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈxɔr.rɔr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔrrɔr
• Syllabification: hor‧ror

Noun

horror m inan

1. (colloquial) horror (something horrible; that which excites horror)
2. horror movie

   Synonym: film grozy

3. horror (literary genre)

Declension

Declension of horror

	singular	plural
nominative	horror	horrory
genitive	horroru	horrorów
dative	horrorowi	horrorom
accusative	horror	horrory
instrumental	horrorem	horrorami
locative	horrorze	horrorach
vocative	horrorze	horrory

Further reading

• “horror”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[3] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “horror”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[4] (in Polish)

Portuguese

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin horrōrem.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /oˈʁoʁ/ [oˈhoh]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /oˈʁoʁ/ [oˈhoh]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /oˈʁoɾ/ [oˈhoɾ]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /oˈʁoʁ/ [oˈχoχ]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /oˈʁoɻ/ [oˈhoɻ]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɔˈʁoɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɔˈʁoɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɔˈʁo.ɾi/

• Rhymes: (Portugal, São Paulo) -oɾ, (Brazil) -oʁ
• Hyphenation: hor‧ror

Noun

horror m (plural horrores)

1. horror

   Synonyms: temor, terror

Related terms

• horrendo
• hórrido
• horrífero
• horrífico
• horripilar
• horrível
• horrorizar
• horroroso

Further reading

• “horror”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English horror.

Adjective

horror m or f or n (indeclinable)

1. horror

Declension

Declension of horror (invariable)

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	horror		horror	horror	horror
	definite	—		—	—	—
genitive- dative	indefinite	horror		horror	horror	horror
	definite	—		—	—	—

Noun

horror n (plural horror)

1. horror

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	horror	horrorul	horror	horrorle
genitive-dative	horror	horrorului	horror	horrorlor
vocative	horrorule		horrorlor

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin horrorem.

Cf. also the popular Old Spanish horrura, inherited from a derivative of the Latin or with a change of suffix, and taking on the meaning of "dirtiness, filth, impurity, scum"; comparable to derivatives of horridus in other Romance languages, like Italian ordo, Old French ord, French ordure, Old Catalan hòrreu, horresa, Old Occitan orre, orrezeza, Romanian urdoare.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /oˈroɾ/ [oˈroɾ]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -oɾ
• Syllabification: ho‧rror

Noun

horror m (plural horrores)

1. horror; terror

   Synonyms: miedo, temor, terror

Derived terms

• horror al vacío

Related terms

• horrendo
• horrible
• hórrido
• horrífico
• horripilante
• horrorizar
• horroroso

Further reading

• “horror”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025