a·tro·cious
Audio Help [uh-troh-shuh
s] Pronunciation Key
—Related forms
Audio Help [uh-troh-shuh
s] Pronunciation Key –adjective
| 1. | extremely or shockingly wicked, cruel, or brutal: an atrocious crime. |
| 2. | shockingly bad or tasteless; dreadful; abominable: an atrocious painting; atrocious manners. |
—Related forms
a·tro·cious·ly, adverb
a·tro·cious·ness, noun
—Synonyms 1. felonious, heinous, monstrous, diabolical, devilish. 2. execrable; detestable.
| Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. |
Atrocious
To learn more about Atrocious visit Britannica.com
| © 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |
| a·tro·cious
Audio Help (ə-trō'shəs) Pronunciation Key
adj.
[From Latin atrōx, atrōc-, frightful, cruel; see āter- in Indo-European roots.] a·tro'cious·ly adv., a·tro'cious·ness n. |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
| atrocious | |
adjective | |
| 1. | shockingly brutal or cruel; "murder is an atrocious crime"; "a grievous offense against morality"; "a grievous crime"; "no excess was too monstrous for them to commit" |
| 2. | exceptionally bad or displeasing; "atrocious taste"; "abominable workmanship"; "an awful voice"; "dreadful manners"; "a painful performance"; "terrible handwriting"; "an unspeakable odor came sweeping into the room" |
| 3. | provoking horror; "an atrocious automobile accident"; "a frightful crime of decapitation"; "an alarming, even horrifying, picture"; "war is beyond all words horrible"- Winston Churchill; "an ugly wound" |
| WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University. |
atrocious1 [əˈtrəuʃəs] adjective
very bad
Example: Your handwriting is atrocious.
atrocious2 [əˈtrəuʃəs] adjectiveExample: Your handwriting is atrocious.
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extremely cruel
Example: an atrocious crime
See also: atrocityExample: an atrocious crime
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| Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary, © 2000-2006 K Dictionaries Ltd. |
Atrocious
A*tro"cious\, a. [L. atrox, atrocis, cruel, fierce: cf. F. atroce.]1. Extremely heinous; full of enormous wickedness; as, atrocious quilt or deeds. 2. Characterized by, or expressing, great atrocity. Revelations . . . so atrocious that nothing in history approaches them. --De Quincey. 3. Very grievous or violent; terrible; as, atrocious distempers. [Obs.] --Cheyne. Syn: Atrocious, Flagitious, Flagrant. Usage: Flagitious points to an act as grossly wicked and vile; as, a flagitious proposal. Flagrant marks the vivid impression made upon the mind by something strikingly wrong or erroneous; as, a flagrant misrepresentation; a flagrant violation of duty. Atrocious represents the act as springing from a violent and savage spirit. If Lord Chatham, instead of saying "the atrocious crime of being a young man," had used either of the other two words, his irony would have lost all its point, in his celebrated reply to Sir Robert Walpole, as reported by Dr. Johnson. -- A*tro"cious*ly, adv. -- A*tro"cious*ness, n.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
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