appall

[ uh-pawl ]

verb (used with object)

1. to fill or overcome with horror, consternation, or fear; dismay:

   He was appalled by the damage from the fire. I am appalled at your mistakes.

   Synonyms: daunt, horrify

Word History and Origins

Origin of appall¹

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English, from Middle French ap(p)allir “to grow or make pale,” equivalent to a- a- ⁵ + pal(l)ir in same sense; pale ¹

Synonym Study

See frighten.

Example Sentences

The attacks on EcoHealth appall scientists and public health experts who know that the organization’s work in identifying potential pandemic sources and crafting responses has never been more important.

From Los Angeles Times

Such testimony would likely appall jurors who already have some notion of Trump’s essential sleaziness.

From Los Angeles Times

The Museum of New and Old Art, or MONA, in Hobart, the capital of the Australian state of Tasmania, is no stranger to works that may shock or appall, or the criticism they may draw.

From New York Times

That students are currently facing McCarthyite attacks for either signing pro-Palestinian open letters or being affiliated with organizations that signed pro-Palestinian open letters, no matter how ignorant and frankly offensive some of those letters are, should appall us all.

From Slate

As Tom Nichols, a national security analyst and former Republican, wrote in the Atlantic, what’s afoot are “plans for a dictatorship that should appall every American.”

From Los Angeles Times