Horror Meaning
/ˈhɒɹ.ə/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounAn intense distressing emotion of fear or repugnance.
nounSomething horrible; that which excites horror.
Sentence Examples
She screamed with horror as someone took hold of her arm.
I'm going to see a horror film.
The thought of being left alone filled her with horror.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The crowd screamed in ____ when the monster suddenly appeared.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He enjoys reading ____ novels because he likes the feeling of being scared and excited.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English horer, horrour, from Old French horror, from Latin horror (“a bristling, a shaking, trembling as with cold or fear, terror”), from horrere (“to bristle, shake, be terrified”). Displaced native Old English ōga.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Their swarthy Hosts wou'd darken all our Plains, / Doubling the native Horror of the War, / And making Death more grim."
— 1712, Joseph Addison, Cato: A tragedy, published 1750, page 44:
"The Home Magazine for July (Binghamton and New York) contains ‘The Patriots' War Chant,’ a poem by Douglas Malloch; ‘The Story of the War,’ by Theodore Waters; ‘A Horseman in the Sky,’ by Ambrose Bierce, with a portrait of Mr. Bierce, whose tales of horror are horrible of themselves, not as war is horrible; ‘A Yankee Hero,’ by W. L. Calver; ‘The Warfare of the Future,’ by Louis Seemuller; ‘Florence Nightingale,’ by Susan E. Dickenson, with two rare portraits, etc."
— 1898 July 3, Philadelphia Inquirer, page 22:
"Could there be stories with more horror than these?"
— 2009, Devin Watson, Horror Screenwriting:
"“Mrs. Yule's chagrin and horror at what she called her son's base ingratitude knew no bounds ; at first it was even thought that she would never get over it. […] ”"
— 1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Tragedy in Dartmoor Terrace”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020:
"Those who enjoy horror, stories overflowing with blood and black mystery, will be grateful to Richard Marsh for writing ‘The Beetle.’"
— 1917 February 11, New York Times, Book reviews, page 52:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The crowd screamed in ____ when the monster suddenly appeared.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He enjoys reading ____ novels because he likes the feeling of being scared and excited.