horrid
Americanadjective
-
such as to cause horror; shockingly dreadful; abominable.
-
extremely unpleasant or disagreeable.
horrid weather; She thought her uncle was horrid.
- Synonyms:
- nasty, abominable, odious, vile
-
Archaic. shaggy or bristling; rough.
adjective
-
disagreeable; unpleasant
a horrid meal
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repulsive or frightening
-
informal unkind
Usage
What does horrid mean? Horrid is popularly used to mean extremely bad—awful, dreadful, or horrible. When it’s used to describe a person, it often means extremely disagreeable or cruel. Much less commonly, it can mean literally causing horror—horrifying or horrific. Example: Everyone seems to like that restaurant, but I had a horrid experience there—bad food and even worse service.
Other Word Forms
- horridly adverb
- horridness noun
Etymology
Origin of horrid
1580–90; < Latin horridus bristling, rough, equivalent to horr- (stem of horrēre to stand on end, bristle) + -idus -id 4
Explanation
Horrid things are absolutely dreadful — they horrify or disgust you. A horrid dream can make you wake with a gasp and lie there with your heart pounding. You might cover your eyes during a particularly horrid scene in a scary movie, or skip past the horrid photos of a war zone in the newspaper. Things are also horrid when they're just plain bad: "That wallpaper in your bedroom is absolutely horrid." In the 1400s, horrid meant "hairy, shaggy, or bristling." The word stems from a Latin root, horrere, "to bristle with fear."
Vocabulary lists containing horrid
Oh, No! Synonyms for "Bad"
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"Macbeth": Act 1 Scene 7
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Ugh! Synonyms for "Gross"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
That reduces China’s response time to a border flare-up and “pushes power projection in that horrid terrain,” Symon said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 5, 2025
“The morale at JPL is horrid right now,” the mechanical engineer said.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 19, 2025
Snap’s Spectacles are truly horrid, like something you’d wear as part of a half-assed Andy Warhol costume on Halloween.
From Slate • Sep. 26, 2024
However, at Twickenham in 1999 a fresh-faced Jonny Wilkinson kicked seven penalties to end that horrid run.
From BBC • Mar. 14, 2024
The wolf pulled its black-rimmed lips back into a horrid grin that bared every one of its wet, razor-sharp teeth.
From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
