horrific

/hɔˈɹɪfɪk/ adj

When something is **horrific**, it terrifies you with its sheer awfulness. It describes events, sights, or sounds that provoke shock, fear, or disgust, often because they are grotesquely violent or dramatically bad. Use **horrific** for anything that makes your stomach do somersaults—a murder scene, a natural disaster, or a particularly dreadful plot twist. The word carries a weightier, more visceral punch than plain “terrifying,” emphasizing the grotesque or morally repugnant. In joking conversation you might exaggerate a minor slip‑up as “horrific,” but the listener will sense the hyperbole. Because it is an adjective, it slots neatly before nouns like “crime,” “mistake,” or “beauty” to signal extreme disapproval.

【核心含义】形容事物极其糟糕,令人恐惧或厌恶。

常修饰“事故、错误、场景”等名词,强调视觉或道德上的严重冲击感。中文使用时需注意语境,避免在轻微过失中过度使用,否则会显得夸张。

【Significado central】Califica algo que provoca terror, shock o asco extremos debido a su violencia, fealdad o gravedad moral.

Es más visceral y contundente que "aterrador": no solo causa miedo, sino también una repulsión moral o física ante lo grotesco. Se combina con sustantivos como "accidente", "crimen", "escena" o "error" para señalar extrema desaprobación. En tono informal, puede usarse hiperbólicamente para exagerar una molestia menor, aunque el oyente notará la ironía o el dramatismo de la queja. Se traduce al español como "horroroso", "espantoso" o "atroz"; el cultismo "horrífico" existe pero se usa menos.

Word Origin From Latin horrere 'to bristle with fear' and facere 'to make' — horrific is 'making one shudder'. The root horrere gives us horror, horrible, and abhor (shrink away from). The -ific suffix is from facere, which also gives us terrific (making terror), pacific (making peace), and artifact (made thing). The PIE root *ghrs- 'to bristle' is vivid: you can almost see hair standing on end.

adj Causing horror; horrifying.

The horrific accident scene left everyone in shock.

(形容词) 令人恐惧的;可怕的;骇人的

那可怕的事故现场让所有人都震惊不已。

(adjetivo) horroroso; terrorífico; espantoso; atroz; horrible [Que causa horror; horroroso.]

La horrorosa escena del accidente dejó a todos en shock.

(adjectif) horrifique; horripilant; effroyable; terrifiant [Qui inspire l'horreur ; épouvantable, horrifiant.]

L'épouvantable accident a laissé tous les témoins sous le choc.

(Adjektiv) grauenhaft; entsetzlich; schrecklich [Grauenhaft, entsetzlich oder schockierend in seiner Wirkung.]

Der **horrific**e Unfall ließ alle Anwesenden fassungslos zurück.

(形容詞) 恐怖を引き起こすような。ぞっとする、恐ろしい。

その恐ろしい事故現場を目にして、誰もがショックを受けた。

(adjetivo) horrífico; aterrorizante; pavoroso; horripilante; aterrador [Que causa horror; aterrorizante.]

A cena horrível do acidente deixou todos em choque.

Word parts: horr + ific

Common collocations

injury subst after prep accident subst attack subst suffer verb crash subst most adv crime subst experience subst car subst murder subst absolutely adv

Related words

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