Words / B2

h-uh-RIF-ik/həˈrɪfɪk/

Horrific means extremely bad, shocking, or frightening: horrific injuries; a horrific crash. Appalling and dreadful are close twins; horrible is milder and more everyday. Horrific injuries featured in the inquiry; quote the medical source, not a headline. Mix-up: horrific vs horrific as a casual insult; honorific. Do not write horrific for a missed bus with no harm in the source.

Meaning

Extremely bad, shocking, or frightening.

Examples

• “Horrific injuries featured in the inquiry; quote the medical source, not a headline.”
• “A horrific crash still needs the casualty figure, which is the news-report sense.”

Good to know

horrific injuries / crash / scene. Close: appalling / dreadful. Milder: horrible. Trap: honorific. News, history, and H&S. Extremely shocking, not everyday annoyance.

Near in meaning

appalling, dreadful, gruesome

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