horrify
To horrify someone or something means to shock them with a frightening or unpleasant experience.
When we say that something will "horrify" people, we usually mean that it's going to make them feel shocked and disturbed by its extreme nature. For example, if you hear about a horrific accident on the news, you might know right away why it was called "horrific". But the word "horrify" can also be used in a more active sense - like when someone intentionally tries to scare or intimidate another person. In this case, they're trying to horrify them with their actions.
How common is "horrify"?
It has a balanced usage among all categories: speech, fiction, newspapers and academic texts.
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.
Real examples of "horrifying" in context
