# horror

Pronunciation: US say "HAWR-ur" /ˈhɔɹ.ɚ/; UK say "HOR-uh" /ˈhɒɹ.ə/

## Noun

1. An intense feeling of fear, shock, or disgust; also, a strong dread or dislike of something.
   - Simple: A strong feeling of fear, shock, or disgust, or a strong dislike of something.
   - _A wave of horror swept over the crowd as the news broke._
   - _He watched in horror as his phone slipped from his hand and into the lake._
2. A genre of fiction, film, or games intended to frighten and disturb its audience; also, a single work in this genre.
   - Simple: Films, books, or games meant to scare people, or one such film or book.
   - _Modern horror often blends supernatural dread with psychological tension._
   - _The festival celebrates horror across film, fiction, and graphic novels._
3. Something horrible: a thing that provokes intense fear and revulsion.
   - Simple: A terrible thing that makes people feel great fear and disgust.
   - _The abandoned hospital was a horror beyond anything they had imagined._
   - _Visitors recoiled from the horrors displayed in the museum's war wing._
4. An unpleasant, unruly person who causes trouble; a rascal. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A naughty or badly behaved person, often a child.
   - _Their youngest is a real horror who never sits still for a moment._
   - _The new recruits were a pack of horrors who ignored every rule._
5. An intense anxiety or nervous depression, often occurring as 'the horrors.' *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A feeling of deep worry or low mood that won't lift.
   - _He'd had the horrors for weeks and was too anxious to eat or sleep._
   - _By the third sleepless week the horrors had taken hold, and dread colored everything._
6. Delirium tremens; the tremors, confusion, and hallucinations brought on by withdrawal from heavy alcohol use. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: The shaking, confusion, and seeing things that come from suddenly stopping heavy drinking.
   - _Two days after his last drink, the horrors descended and the visions began._
   - _In the old days, heavy drinkers who suddenly went dry often came down with the horrors._

## Origin

This word came through Middle English horrour and Old French horror from Latin horror, meaning "a bristling, shaking, or trembling as with cold or fear," from the verb horrere ("to bristle, shake, be terrified"). It displaced the native Old English word ōga.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/horror (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).