horror - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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.
- (Received Pronunciation, New England) IPA(key): /ˈhɒɹ.ə/
- (General American, Canada) IPA(key): /ˈhɔɹ.ɚ/
- (New York City, Philadelphia) IPA(key): /ˈhɑɹ.ɚ/
- (Traditional, non-rhotic New York City) IPA(key): /ˈhɑɹ.ə/
- (some accents) IPA(key): /ˈhɔɚ/
- Homophones: whore, hoar (some rhotic American accents with the horse_–_hoarse merger)
- Rhymes: -ɒɹə(ɹ), -ɔː(ɹ)
- Hyphenation: horr‧or
horror (countable and uncountable, plural horrors)
- (countable, uncountable) An intense distressing emotion of fear or repugnance.
- 1712, Joseph Addison, Cato: A tragedy, published 1750, page 44:
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:
- (countable, uncountable) Something horrible; that which excites horror.
I saw many horrors during the war.- 1898 July 3, Philadelphia Inquirer, page 22:
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. - 2009, Devin Watson, Horror Screenwriting[2]:
Could there be stories with more horror than these?
- 1898 July 3, Philadelphia Inquirer, page 22:
- (countable, uncountable) Intense dislike or aversion; an abhorrence.
- 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:
“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:
- (uncountable) A genre of fiction designed to evoke a feeling of fear and suspense.
- 1917 February 11, New York Times, Book reviews, page 52:
Those who enjoy horror, stories overflowing with blood and black mystery, will be grateful to Richard Marsh for writing ‘The Beetle.’
- (countable) An individual work in this genre.
- 1990, Wayne Jancik, The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, →ISBN, page 156:
A well-received Johnny Fuller R & B horror called "Haunted House." - 2006, Pierluigi on Cinema:
[…] there were hastily produced B movies, such as the peplums, the spaghetti westerns, the detective stories, the horrors.
- 1917 February 11, New York Times, Book reviews, page 52:
- (countable, colloquial) A nasty or ill-behaved person; a rascal or terror.
The neighbour's kids are a pack of little horrors! - (informal) An intense anxiety or a nervous depression; often the horrors.
- (in the plural, informal) Delirium tremens.
intense distressing fear or repugnance
- Albanian: tmerr (sq) m
- Arabic: رُعْب m (ruʕb), خَوْف (ar) m (ḵawf)
- Armenian: սարսափ (hy) (sarsapʻ), ահ (hy) (ah)
- Azerbaijani: vahimə, dəhşət (az)
- Bashkir: ҡурҡыныс (qurqınıs)
- Belarusian: жах m (žax), страх m (strax)
- Bengali: ভয় (bn) (bhoẏ)
- Bulgarian: у́жас (bg) m (úžas), страх (bg) m (strah)
- Catalan: horror (ca) m
- Chinese:
Mandarin: 恐懼 / 恐惧 (zh) (kǒngjù) 恐怖 (zh) (kǒngbù), 驚悚 / 惊悚 (zh) (jīngsǒng) - Czech: hrůza (cs) f
- Danish: gru c, rædsel c
- Dutch: gruwel (nl) m
- Esperanto: teruro (eo)
- Estonian: õudus (et), õud, õõv
- Finnish: kauhu (fi), kammo (fi), hirveys (fi)
- French: horreur (fr) m, effroi (fr) m
- Galician: horror m
- Georgian: საშინელება (sašineleba)
- German: Angst (de) f, Furcht (de) f, Horror (de) m, Grauen (de) n, Greuel (de) m
- Gothic: 𐌿𐍃𐍆𐌹𐌻𐌼𐌴𐌹 f (usfilmei)
- Greek: τρόμος (el) m (trómos)
- Hebrew: אֵימָה (he) f (emá)
- Hindi: दहशत (hi) f (dahśat), आतंक (hi) m (ātaṅk), भय (hi) m (bhay), वहशत (hi) f (vahśat)
- Hungarian: borzalom (hu)
- Icelandic: ógn (is) f
- Indonesian: horor (id), kengerian (id), seram (id)
- Irish: uafás m
- Italian: orrore (it) m
- Japanese: 恐怖 (ja) (きょうふ, kyōfu), 恐れ (ja) (おそれ, osore)
- Kazakh: қорқыныш (qorqynyş), үрей (ürei)
- Khmer: ភេរវារម្មណ៍ (pheirĕəʼviərɑm)
- Korean: 공포(恐怖) (ko) (gongpo), 무서움 (ko) (museoum), 두려움 (ko) (duryeoum)
- Kyrgyz: коркунуч (ky) (korkunuc)
- Latin: horror m
- Latvian: šausmas f
- Lithuanian: siaubas m, šiurpas m
- Macedonian: у́жас m (úžas), страв (mk) m (strav)
- Malay: seram (ms)
- Maltese: orrur m
- Mongolian:
Cyrillic: аймшиг (mn) (ajmšig) - Norwegian:
Bokmål: gru f, redsel (no) m - Occitan: orror (oc)
- Old English: ōga m
- Pannonian Rusyn: ужас m (užas)
- Pashto: دهشت (ps) m (dahšat)
- Persian:
Iranian Persian: وَحْشَت (fa) (vahšat), دَهْشَت (fa) (dahšat), تَرْس (fa) (tars), هَرَاس (fa) (harâs) - Plautdietsch: Grul f
- Polish: groza (pl) f, strach (pl) m
- Portuguese: horror (pt) m
- Romanian: groază (ro) f, oroare (ro) f, spaimă (ro) f
- Russian: у́жас (ru) m (úžas), страх (ru) m (strax), боя́знь (ru) f (bojáznʹ)
- Sanskrit: घोर (sa) m (ghora)
- Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: у̏жа̄с m
Latin: ȕžās (sh) m - Slovak: hrôza f
- Slovene: groza (sl) f
- Spanish: horror (es) m
- Swedish: skräck (sv) c, fruktan (sv) c, fasa (sv) c
- Tajik: даҳшат (dahšat), ваҳшат (vahšat), ҳарос (tg) (haros)
- Tatar: дәһшәт (tt) (dähşät), куркыныч (qurqınıç), курку (qurqu)
- Tocharian B: empelñe
- Tongan: lilifu
- Turkish: korku (tr), dehşet (tr)
- Turkmen: elhençlik, gorky
- Ukrainian: жах m (žax), страх (uk) m (strax)
- Urdu: دَہْشَت f (dahśat), وَحْشَت (ur) f (vahśat)
- Uyghur: قورقۇنچ (qorqunch), دەھشەت (dehshet)
- Uzbek: qoʻrquv (uz), dahshat (uz)
- Vietnamese: sự khiếp (vi), sự ghê rợn (vi)
thing that which excites horror
- Esperanto: teruraĵo
literary genre
- Arabic: رُعْب m (ruʕb)
- Armenian: սարսափ (hy) (sarsapʻ)
- Belarusian: жах m (žax)
- Bulgarian: у́жаси (bg) m pl (úžasi)
- Catalan: terror (ca)
- Chinese:
Mandarin: 恐怖 (zh) (kǒngbù) - Czech: horor (cs) m
- Dutch: horror (nl) m
- Finnish: kauhu (fi), kauhukirjallisuus
- French: horreur (fr) m
- German: Horror (de) m
- Greek: τρόμος (el) m (trómos)
- Indonesian: horor (id)
- Japanese: ホラー (ja) (horā)
- Kazakh: қорқыныш (qorqynyş)
- Korean: 호러 (horeo), 공포(恐怖) (ko) (gongpo)
- Macedonian: у́жаси m pl (úžasi), хо́рор m (hóror)
- Malay: horor, seram (ms)
- Persian:
Iranian Persian: تَرْس (fa) (tars) - Polish: horror (pl) m
- Portuguese: horror (pt) m
- Russian: у́жас (ru) m (úžas), ужа́стик (ru) m (užástik) (colloquial), хо́ррор (ru) m (xórror) (neologism)
- Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: хо̏рор m
Latin: hȍror (sh) m - Slovak: horor (sk) m
- Slovene: horor m
- Swedish: skräck (sv) c
- Tajik: тарс (tg) (tars), даҳшат (dahšat)
- Turkish: korku (tr)
- Ukrainian: жах m (žax)
informal: intense anxiety
- Finnish: täpinät pl
Translations to be checked
German: (please verify) Horror (de) m, (please verify) Grauen (de) n
Icelandic: (please verify) hrollvekja (is) f, (please verify) hryllingur (is) m, (please verify) óhugnaður m, (please verify) ósköp n pl
Romanian: (please verify) spaimă (ro), (please verify) oroare (ro) f
Scottish Gaelic: (please verify) uamhann m, (please verify) oillt f, (please verify) uabhas m, (please verify) uabhann m, (please verify) sgreamh f
Turkish: (please verify) dehşet (tr), (please verify) yılgı (tr), (please verify) korku (tr)
“horror”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “horror”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
“horror”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
horror m (plural horrors)
- horror, disgust
Synonyms: repulsió, aversió - terror
Synonyms: terror, por - (figurative) person or thing inspiring the above feelings
“horror”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
“horror”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
“horror” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “horror”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)
horror m (uncountable, no diminutive)
- horror (genre of fiction)
van der Sijs, Nicoline, editor (2010), “horror”, in Etymologiebank, Meertens Institute
Learned borrowing from Latin horror.
horror m (plural horrores)
Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “horror”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “horror”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
Borrowed from Latin horror.[1]
horror (plural horrorok)
^ István Tótfalusi (2005), Idegenszó-tár: Idegen szavak értelmező és etimológiai szótára [A Storehouse of Foreign Words: An Explanatory and Etymological Dictionary of Foreign Words], Budapest: Tinta, →ISBN
From Proto-Italic *horzōs, remodeled into a rhotic-stem. Equivalent to horreo + -or.
- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [ˈhɔr.rɔr]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [ˈɔr.ror]
horror m (genitive horrōris); third declension
Third-declension noun.
Catalan: horror
English: horror
French: horreur
Galician: horror
Italian: orrore
German: Horror
Piedmontese: oror
Portuguese: horror
Romanian: oroare
Sicilian: arruri
Spanish: horror
“horror”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“horror”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
"horror", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
Borrowed from Latin horror, horrorem.
horror oblique singular, f (oblique plural horrors, nominative singular **horror, nominative plural horrors)
horror m inan
- (colloquial) horror (something horrible; that which excites horror)
- horror movie
Synonym: film grozy - horror (literary genre)
- “horror”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego[3] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
- “horror”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN[4] (in Polish)
Learned borrowing from Latin horrōrem.
Hyphenation: hor‧ror
horror m (plural horrores)
“horror”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026
Unadapted borrowing from English horror.
horror m or f or n (indeclinable)
Declension of horror (invariable)
| | singular | plural | | | | | | --------------------- | ---------- | ---------- | ---------- | ---------- | ---------- | | | masculine | neuter | feminine | masculine | neuter | feminine | | nominative-accusative | indefinite | horror | horror | horror | horror | | definite | — | — | — | — | | | genitive-dative | indefinite | horror | horror | horror | horror | | definite | — | — | — | — | |
horror n (plural **horror)
Cf. also the popular Old Spanish horrura, inherited from a derivative of the Latin or with a change of suffix, and taking on the meaning of "dirtiness, filth, impurity, scum"; comparable to derivatives of horridus in other Romance languages,[1] like Italian ordo, Old French ord, French ordure, Old Catalan hòrreu, horresa, Old Occitan orre, orrezeza, Romanian urdoare.
horror m (plural horrores)
- ^ Coromines, Joan; Pascual, José Antonio (1983–1991), “horror”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico [Critical Castilian and Hispanic etymological dictionary][1] (in Spanish), Madrid: Gredos
- “horror”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025