horrify

horrify — verb

1. to cause a person to feel extreme shock, fear, or disgust, particularly when the

1.verbtransitiveB2
Definition

to cause a person to feel extreme shock, fear, or disgust, particularly when they see or hear about something cruel or terrible.

Example

The news about the factory fire horrified Asher and his colleagues.

active: horrify + object

João was horrified to learn that the old forest had been burned down.

passive: be horrified + to-infinitive

Common collocations
  • horrify someone
  • be horrified at
  • be horrified by
  • be horrified to see/hear/find/learn
  • absolutely horrified
  • truly horrified
Synonyms
  • shock

    broader and less intense than horrify; can describe any sudden surprise, not just negative ones

  • appal

    very close in meaning; more common in British English and slightly stronger in moral outrage

  • dismay

    suggests a mix of shock and disappointment rather than fear or disgust

  • disgust

    focuses on revulsion rather than fear; the moral component is stronger

Antonyms
  • reassure

    to make someone feel less worried or afraid

  • comfort

    to soothe someone who is distressed

  • delight

    to cause great pleasure, the opposite emotional reaction

Grammar Patterns

horrify + object

be horrified + at/by + object

be horrified + to-infinitive

Usage Note

Frequently used in the passive voice (be horrified). The cause of horror is typically introduced by at, by, or a to-infinitive clause. The active form is less common and usually has a situation, image, or piece of news as its subject rather than a person acting directly.

Common Mistakes

I was horrible when I saw the accident.
I was horrified when I saw the accident.
horrible means 'very bad as a person or thing'; horrified describes the feeling of shock.
The movie terrified me' (when meaning it made me feel shock/disgust).
The movie horrified me
terrify is about extreme fear; horrify adds a sense of moral shock or disgust.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

Shock is the broadest of these words — it covers any sudden, unpleasant surprise, from mild to severe, and does not necessarily involve moral judgment. Appal (or appall in American English) is very close to horrify, but places slightly more emphasis on the sense of moral outrage: one is appalled by cruelty or injustice. Dismay suggests a combination of shock and discouragement — you are dismayed when plans fail or bad news arrives, but the feeling is less visceral than horror. Disgust focuses on revulsion, especially towards something physically or morally repulsive. Horrify sits at the strongest end of this group, blending fear with deep emotional disturbance. For example, a messy room might dismay a tidy person, but finding illegal activity in that same room would horrify them.

shock ↗appal ↗dismay ↗disgust ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • it horrifies me to think
  • be horrified at the prospect of
  • be horrified to discover

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Horrify comes from the Latin verb horrēre, meaning 'to tremble, to shudder,' combined with the French suffix -ifier (from Latin -ficare, 'to make'). The word entered English in the late 1700s and originally carried the physical sense of 'to cause shivering or bristling.' Over time it shifted to describe the emotional reaction of extreme fear or shock that makes a person feel as if they are shuddering inside.