1
a
: painful and intense fear, dread, or dismay
astonishment giving place to horror on the faces of the people about me—
H. G. Wells
H. G. Wells
b
: intense aversion or repugnance
2
a
: the quality of inspiring horror : repulsive, horrible, or dismal quality or character
contemplating the horror of their lives—Liam O'Flaherty
Liam O'Flaherty
b
: something that inspires horror
3
horrors plural
: a state of extreme depression or apprehension
: calculated to inspire feelings of dread or horror
a horror movie
Synonyms
Examples of horror in a Sentence
Noun
There was a look of horror on her face.
The crowd watched in horror as the fire spread.
His friends were shocked by the horror of his death.
His crimes were unspeakable horrors.
His memoirs recount the horrors of the war.
Recent Examples on the WebChristopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 12 Apr. 2024
Then the horror slowly creeps over his watery eyes as the sauce builds on his tongue.
—Lester Fabian Brathwaite, EW.com, 12 Apr. 2024
On a recent flight from Auckland to Sydney, an unruly man reportedly urinated into a cup while sitting at his seat, much to the horror of his fellow passengers.
—Paula Mejía, The Atlantic, 11 Apr. 2024
More horror films are set to be skewered by the parody Scary Movie franchise.
—Benjamin Vanhoose, Peoplemag, 11 Apr. 2024
But Pollan and Schlosser see it fundamentally as a work of journalism, in the grand American tradition of Upton Sinclair, whose reported novel The Jungle helped expose the horrors of the meatpacking industry at the dawn of the twentieth century.
—Julian Sancton, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Apr. 2024
Social media users also reacted in horror to the ad.
—Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN, 10 Apr. 2024
Selling the day’s catches to locals unearths more information about each area’s troubled past, but darkness ushers in the night’s worrisome eldritch horrors.
—Katcy Stephan, Variety, 9 Apr. 2024
Nettles said in mock horror about the country-leaning collection that secured Bey’s eighth chart-topper on the album chart.
—Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 8 Apr. 2024
Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 15 Feb. 2024
Horror Express, which was shot in Madrid, feels like the work of a director who was a fan of the horror genre and wished to elevate the material beyond pure camp.
—Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 16 Oct. 2023
The streamer then greenlit a second season (coming out before the end of the year) and a third season of the horror apocalypse drama.
—Kayti Burt, Rolling Stone, 13 Nov. 2023
While Psycho is arguably well-known by both horror and non-horror fans alike, the same can't be said Peeping Tom.
—Stacey Grant, Seventeen, 28 Oct. 2022
Matt Tolmach producing 'Morbius' Matt Tolmach, a lacrosse star during his days at Beloit College and former co-head of production at Sony Pictures, was one of the producers of this horror-ish side project from the Spider-Man cinematic universe.
—Chris Foran, Journal Sentinel, 29 Dec. 2022
And in no way suggestive of future scifi-horror movies.
—Veronique Greenwood, Discover Magazine, 8 Sep. 2011
Over the course of the collection Chung dabbles in science fiction, fantasy, fable and horror.
—Noah Berlatsky, Los Angeles Times, 9 Dec. 2022
From the creators of Dark, an intriguing period mystery/horror German series called 1899.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 6 June 2022
Noun
Although the overall mood sounds pretty dour, the tone set early on in the series is more akin to a satirical take on Mad Max than an overly dark introspective on the horrors of the new world.
—Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 12 Apr. 2024
Then the horror slowly creeps over his watery eyes as the sauce builds on his tongue.
—Lester Fabian Brathwaite, EW.com, 12 Apr. 2024
On a recent flight from Auckland to Sydney, an unruly man reportedly urinated into a cup while sitting at his seat, much to the horror of his fellow passengers.
—Paula Mejía, The Atlantic, 11 Apr. 2024
More horror films are set to be skewered by the parody Scary Movie franchise.
—Benjamin Vanhoose, Peoplemag, 11 Apr. 2024
But Pollan and Schlosser see it fundamentally as a work of journalism, in the grand American tradition of Upton Sinclair, whose reported novel The Jungle helped expose the horrors of the meatpacking industry at the dawn of the twentieth century.
—Julian Sancton, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Apr. 2024
Social media users also reacted in horror to the ad.
—Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN, 10 Apr. 2024
Selling the day’s catches to locals unearths more information about each area’s troubled past, but darkness ushers in the night’s worrisome eldritch horrors.
—Katcy Stephan, Variety, 9 Apr. 2024
Nettles said in mock horror about the country-leaning collection that secured Bey’s eighth chart-topper on the album chart.
—Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 8 Apr. 2024
Adjective
Additionally, while other movie franchises have begun to lose steam, Warner Bros said The Nun II (the 6th film in The Conjuring universe) crossed $250 million in the global box office, making the series the highest-grossing in the horror genre of all time.
—Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 15 Feb. 2024
Horror Express, which was shot in Madrid, feels like the work of a director who was a fan of the horror genre and wished to elevate the material beyond pure camp.
—Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 16 Oct. 2023
The streamer then greenlit a second season (coming out before the end of the year) and a third season of the horror apocalypse drama.
—Kayti Burt, Rolling Stone, 13 Nov. 2023
While Psycho is arguably well-known by both horror and non-horror fans alike, the same can't be said Peeping Tom.
—Stacey Grant, Seventeen, 28 Oct. 2022
Matt Tolmach producing 'Morbius' Matt Tolmach, a lacrosse star during his days at Beloit College and former co-head of production at Sony Pictures, was one of the producers of this horror-ish side project from the Spider-Man cinematic universe.
—Chris Foran, Journal Sentinel, 29 Dec. 2022
And in no way suggestive of future scifi-horror movies.
—Veronique Greenwood, Discover Magazine, 8 Sep. 2011
Over the course of the collection Chung dabbles in science fiction, fantasy, fable and horror.
—Noah Berlatsky, Los Angeles Times, 9 Dec. 2022
From the creators of Dark, an intriguing period mystery/horror German series called 1899.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 6 June 2022
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'horror.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near horror
Cite this Entry
“Horror.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/horror. Accessed 20 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
horror
noun
hor·ror
ˈhȯr-ər, ˈhär- 
: painful and intense fear, dread, or dismay
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