HORRIFY (horrified)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: horrified   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does horrify mean? 

• HORRIFY (verb)
  The verb HORRIFY has 1 sense:

1. fill with apprehension or alarm; cause to be unpleasantly surprised

  Familiarity information: HORRIFY used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HORRIFY (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they horrify    ... he / she / it horrifies   
Past simple: horrified   
Past participle: horrified   
-ing form: horrifying   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Fill with apprehension or alarm; cause to be unpleasantly surprised

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

alarm; appal; appall; dismay; horrify

Context example:

The news of the executions horrified us

Hypernyms (to "horrify" is one way to...):

affright; fright; frighten; scare (cause fear in)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "horrify"):

shock (strike with horror or terror)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence example:

The bad news will horrify him

Derivation:

horror (intense and profound fear)

 Context examples 

‘You horrify me, Trevor!’ I cried.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

For a long time we sat in horrified silence.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

When it struck him what he said, he was horrified at his thoughtlessness and tried to comfort her.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

I found him safe and well, but horrified beyond expression by the dreadful deed he had witnessed.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

They were pulling up, at any rate, horrified at the accident; and I soon saw what they were.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

An instant later it was hurriedly replaced, and I caught a glimpse of a dark, beautiful, horrified face glaring at the narrow opening of the box-room.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Everybody in Ruth's family looked up to Judge Blount as a man of power and achievement, and they were horrified at Martin's outbreak.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

“No, please don't bring her!” said Dora, giving me a horrified little kiss, and folding her hands.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

You horrify me!

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

That night he looked as if he would like the fun of quizzing her figures and pretending to be horrified at her extravagance, as he often did, being particularly proud of his prudent wife.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)