Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An intense, painful feeling of repugnance and fear.
- noun A state or condition marked by this feeling: synonym: fear.
- noun An intense dislike or abhorrence.
- noun A cause of horror.
- noun A genre of fiction or other artistic work evoking suspense and horror, especially through the depiction of gruesome or supernatural elements.
- noun A work of this genre.
- noun Informal One that is unpleasant, ugly, or disagreeable.
- noun Informal Intense nervous depression or anxiety. Often used with the.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A bristling or ruffling, as of the surface of water; a rippling.
- noun A shivering or shuddering, as in the cold fit which precedes a fever, usually accompanied with contraction and roughening of the skin; a rigor.
- noun A painful emotion of fear or abhorrence; a shuddering with terror or loathing; the feeling inspired by something frightful or shocking.
- noun Shrinking dread; great dislike or repugnance: as, to hold publicity in horror; to have a horror of falsehood.
- noun That which excites horror or terror; that which causes gloom or dread: as, the horrors of war; a place of horrors.
- noun Delirium tremens.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun Archaic A bristling up; a rising into roughness; tumultuous movement.
- noun A shaking, shivering, or shuddering, as in the cold fit which precedes a fever; in old medical writings, a chill of less severity than a
rigor , and more marked than analgor . - noun A painful emotion of fear, dread, and abhorrence; a shuddering with terror and detestation; the feeling inspired by something frightful and shocking.
- noun That which excites horror or dread, or is horrible; gloom; dreariness.
- noun [Colloq.] delirium tremens.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun An
intense painful emotion offear orrepugnance . - noun An intense
dislike oraversion ; anabhorrence . - noun A literary genre, generally of a
gothic character. - noun informal An intense
anxiety or anervous depression ; this sense can also be spoken or written as the horrors.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun intense aversion
- noun something that inspires dislike; something horrible
- noun intense and profound fear
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Well, imagine *the horror, the horror* when we decided to try California Vegan, went in, and found that California Vegan, which replaced that god awful Thai restaurant, was, in fact, vegan Thai!
Vegan by Any Other Name Still Tastes Like Thai - California Vegan 2005
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In the horror of the darkness which enveloped us, the _horror of space_ came over my spirit.
A Columbus of Space 1890
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S ome are mooting the idea of stripping John C. Yoo of his tenure at Boalt Hall, but I recoil in horror from the notion.
Is That Legal?: John Yoo, Karl Bendetsen, Firing, and Hiring 2008
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Terrified by her vision of the living dead, Orra becomes hyperkinetic, twice dragging male characters backwards to protect them, shrinking in horror from the Countess, kneeling, and running up to console Hughobert.
The Liberating and Debilitating Imagination in Joanna Baillies Orra and The Dream 2008
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S ome are mooting the idea of stripping John C. Yoo of his tenure at Boalt Hall, but I recoil in horror from the notion.
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I would almost literally recoil in horror from the book on the bed beside me and my husband would say "why are you reading that if it's so upsetting?"
Don't touch that 2007
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S ome are mooting the idea of stripping John C. Yoo of his tenure at Boalt Hall, but I recoil in horror from the notion.
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But if you've read it, you know that those emotions you associate with the term horror -- dread, suspense, despair, fear -- are in this book.
Trust Me...You've Read Horror - Suvudu - Science Fiction and Fantasy Books, Movies, and Games 2008
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We're looking at the newest Adobe Photo Shop and reeling in horror from the enormous price - it's too much and too complicated - we're into simple.
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From these three statements they get the military idea of women, children, and God, and the heart of the knitting woman recoils in horror from the cold brutality of it all.
In Times Like These 1915
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The 1973 Robin Hardy film The Wicker Man best embodies the elements that have come to be associated with folk horror. In the film, an outsider (in this case, a detective) enters an insular community (an island of pagans), trying to solve a mystery (the disappearance of a young girl, potentially involving ritual sacrifice) while also grappling with the locals’ strange, antiquated system of beliefs (that revolve around agriculture and fertility).
What is Folk Horror? Rowan Lee 2023
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Chances are if you’ve watched a mainstream horror film from the past ten years, it’s in the ‘elevated horror’ genre. Indie studio A24 is recognised as the trailblazer of these releases, with them often cited as the originator of the term itself.
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The elevated horror film, which will hit theaters in 2016, is the directorial debut for writer-director Osgood Perkins, who is better known for his acting, including roles in Legally Blonde and Psycho II.
TIFF: A24, DirecTV Acquire ‘February’ Starring Emma Roberts (Exclusive) Rebecca Ford 2015
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You don’t hear the term elevated horror so often these days, and for that, we can be grateful. Ever since it was skewered in 2022’s Scream — literally: Jenna Ortega’s character is stabbed repeatedly after revealing her preference for movies like The Babadook — the vague designation has all but disappeared from reviews and online discourse.
This Was the Year of Elevated Trash Louis Peitzman 2024
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The appeal of cider and donuts is universal, but folk horror might need some defining. Essentially, it’s horror set in remote, isolated areas where nature still holds sway. Well, nature paired with the superstitious beliefs of the locals, who tend to treat unwary outsiders with suspicion (if the outsiders are lucky) or malice (if they’re not).
This horror genre is scary as folk – and perfect October viewing Glen Weldon 2024
Louises commented on the word horror
See prosaically comments
March 25, 2012
Logophile77 commented on the word horror
"horror movie" pronounced quickly sounds very much like "whore movie".
May 23, 2018