Appall Meaning
/əˈpɔːl/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo fill with horror or indignation; to dismay.
verbTo make pale; to blanch.
Sentence Examples
The news of the accident will appall his family.
I was shocked to appall the audience with such a revelation.
The shocking images of the disaster appall viewers around the world.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The gruesome crime scene was enough to ____ even the most hardened detective.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The scenes of destruction after the fire were surely to ____ the world.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English apallen, from Old French apalir (“to grow pale, make pale”); a (Latin ad) + palir (“to grow pale, to make pale”), pâle (“pale”), from pallere. See pale (adj.) and compare with pall.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The house of peers was somewhat appalled at this alarum."
— 1702–1704, Edward [Hyde, 1st] Earl of Clarendon, (please specify |book=I to XVI), in The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Begun in the Year 1641. […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed at the [Sheldonian] Theater:
"Thanſwere that ye made to me my dere
whañ I did ſewe for my poore hartes redreſſe
hathe ſo apalld my countenaunce […]"
— c. 1527–1542, Thomas Wyatt, “Thanſwere that ye made to me my dere”, in Egerton MS 2711, page 63r:
"wine of it owne nature will not congeale and freeze, onely it will loose the strength, and become appalled in extremitie of cold."
— 1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “(please specify |book=I to XXXVII)”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. […], (please specify |tome=1 or 2), London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The gruesome crime scene was enough to ____ even the most hardened detective.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The scenes of destruction after the fire were surely to ____ the world.