Atrocious

/əˈtɹəʊ.ʃəs/ · adjective

Meaning

Frightful, evil, cruel, or monstrous..

Definitions by Sense

1. Frightful, evil, cruel, or monstrous.
2. Offensive or heinous.
3. Very bad; abominable, disgusting.

Example Sentences

Prisons have been the sites of atrocious mistreatment of prisoners.

I had resolved in my own mind, that to create another like the fiend I had first made would be an act of the basest and most atrocious selfishness; and I banished from my mind every thought that could lead to a different conclusion.

Their taste in clothes is just atrocious.

Others of the sailors joined with them in this attempt, and a twisted turmoil ensued; while standing out of harm's way, the valiant captain danced up and down with a whale-pike, calling upon his officers to manhandle that atrocious scoundrel, and smoke him along to the quarter-deck.

The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on a certain afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track. The three returned wondering and charmed with Mrs. Cooke; they were sure she had had no hand in the furnishing of that atrocious house.

It is standard practice for search and rescue authorities to ask other vessels in the area to assist. Usually, this is done. The weather on the night of 31 December was too atrocious, and when at 11pm the Coast Guard asked the crabber Ruff & Reddy to head to the scene, its skipper refused, as a skipper has a right to do if he believes conditions to be too treacherous.

Synonyms for atrocious

Antonyms for atrocious

Related Words

Word Forms

• more atrocious
• most atrocious

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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