Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Extremely evil or cruel; monstrous.
  • adjective Exceptionally bad; abominable.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Manifesting or characterized by atrocity; extremely heinous, criminal, or cruel; enormously or outrageously wicked.
  • Very grievous; violent: as, atrocious distempers.
  • Very bad; execrable: as, an atrocious pun.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Extremely heinous; full of enormous wickedness.
  • adjective Characterized by, or expressing, great atrocity.
  • adjective obsolete Very grievous or violent; terrible.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective frightful, evil, cruel or monstrous
  • adjective offensive or heinous
  • adjective very bad; abominable or disgusting

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective shockingly brutal or cruel
  • adjective exceptionally bad or displeasing
  • adjective provoking horror

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From Latin atrōx, atrōc-, frightful, cruel; see āter- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin atrox ("fierce, frightful, cruel"), from ater ("black").

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Examples

  • 'On my life, Stanley, I'll acquaint Mr. Wylder this evening with what you meditate, and the atrocious liberty you presume -- yes, Sir, though you are my brother, the _atrocious liberty_ you dare to take with my name -- unless you promise, upon your honour, now and here, to dismiss for ever the odious and utterly resultless scheme.'

    Wylder's Hand Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu 1843

  • During the campaign it was revealed that Whitman herself had not voted for 28 years, a record she described as "atrocious" and had ruthlessly dumped her longtime housekeeper when it emerged she was an illegal alien - and consequently a political liability.

    Will Meg Whitman stay the course as HP CEO? 2011

  • They were both dressed in atrocious outfits, and one-time ANTM catchphrase photog Gilles Bensimon notched nearly 30 seconds of screen time.

    'America's Next Top Model' recap: And the winner is... | EW.com 2009

  • I lighted up my pipe and waited, and the story that Oti told me in atrocious bech-de-mer I here turn into proper English.

    YAH! YAH! YAH! 2010

  • "Nothing short of atrocious" is such an exaggeration.

    The Last Airbender Movie Trailer #3 | /Film 2010

  • Saloniki & joined other POW's in atrocious conditions, & after some time there, we were loaded into cattle trucks, 40 to a truck.

    Frank Cox 2010

  • Given that I usually only take transit in atrocious weather, I'll be very happy to transfer to the SkyTrain part way to work and avoid the extra five blocks walk from the bus stop down a treacherous icy hill.

    Archive: Oct 08 - Mar 09 Cath@VWXYNot? 2009

  • While the cuotas from Puebla to Veracruz State and on the La Venita-Tuxtla cutoff are in atrocious condition in places, the roads in Chiapas are really excellent even in many parts of the outback.

    Pico Orizaba to The Mountains of OZ Over the Highways From Hell 2006

  • While the cuotas from Puebla to Veracruz State and on the La Venita-Tuxtla cutoff are in atrocious condition in places, the roads in Chiapas are really excellent even in many parts of the outback.

    Pico Orizaba to The Mountains of OZ Over the Highways From Hell 2006

  • While the cuotas from Puebla to Veracruz State and on the La Venita-Tuxtla cutoff are in atrocious condition in places, the roads in Chiapas are really excellent even in many parts of the outback.

    Pico Orizaba to The Mountains of OZ Over the Highways From Hell 2006

Comments

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  • I love when CD&C really loses it and Miss Manners wafts away on a Plato-trolling excursion.

    February 1, 2013

  • Me too!

    February 1, 2013