horrifying

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horrify

An horrifying experience or situation is one that causes strong feelings of fear, disgust, or shock. Something horrible has happened and it's hard to believe.

When we talk about something being horrifying, we often use it to describe an event, image, or story that's too disturbing or frightening to think about comfortably. For example, if someone says a new horror movie was "horrifying", they mean it scared them or made them feel uneasy. If a news report shows footage of a terrible accident, the scene might be described as horrifying because it's so graphic and unsettling.

How common is "horrifying"?

Word horrifying is considered rare in modern English.
It has a balanced usage among all categories: speech, fiction, newspapers and academic texts.
Definitions

verb

  • To cause to feel extreme apprehension or unease; to cause to experience horror.

    Example: The haunted house was horrifying, from one room to the next I felt more and more like I wasn’t going to survive.

adjective

  • Tending to inspire horror; that horrifies; horrific.