The meaning of HORRIBLE is marked by or arousing painful and intense fear, dread, dismay, or aversion : marked by or arousing horror. How to use horrible in a sentence.

Horrible is popularly used to mean extremely bad—awful, dreadful, or horrendous. When it’s used to describe a person, it often means extremely disagreeable or cruel.

(Definition of horrible from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

In conversation, people use horrible and horrid to show their dislike for someone or something. These words can be used to describe almost anything which is unpleasant, ugly, disgusting, or depressing. …

You can call something horrible when it causes you to feel great shock, fear, and disgust. Still the horrible shrieking came out of his mouth.

Horrible definition: Arousing or tending to arouse horror; dreadful.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026 hor•ri•ble (hôr′ ə bəl, hor′ -), adj. causing or tending to cause horror; shockingly dreadful: a horrible sight. extremely …

horrible, adj., n., & adv. meanings, etymology, pronunciation and more in the Oxford English Dictionary

Mar 24, 2026 · horrible (plural horribles) A thing that causes horror; a terrifying thing, particularly a prospective bad consequence asserted as likely to result from an act.

Definition of horrible adjective in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.