Horrible

First attested in Middle English

The

American Heritage

Â®

Dictionary of the English Language

, Fourth Edition

(alternately as horrible and orrible)

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1Â·1)

in 1303

from Old French

horrible

, from Latin horribilis

, from

shudder

|lang=la} + -ibilis ("-ible")

Full definition of 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 DickHere'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 SenateA 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 JourneyThe 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 RightsMany scholars have demonstrated these horribles and contemplated significant limitations on class actions.

1893, Walter Besant, The Ivory Gate Chapter Prologue, Such a scandal as the prosecution of a brother for forgeryâ€”with a verdict of guiltyâ€”is a most truly horrible, deplorable, fatal thing. It takes the respectability out of a family perhaps at a critical moment, when the family is just assuming the robes of respectability:...it is a black spot which all the soaps ever advertised could never wash off.
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, 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.

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.

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