horror

/ˈhɔrər/

/ˈhɒrə/

Other forms: horrors

The noun horror means intense fear, so you can use it when you describe the horror you felt when you dreamed you were flying on a bumpy airplane with a bunch of clowns.

Horror is a powerful word that refers to a powerful feeling, either of terror, disgust, or shock. You might reel back from the horror of a smelly locker room, or gasp in horror at a gory scene in a movie. Horror can also be used to describe the genre of film that might make you gasp: a horror movie. The Latin word horror means "bristling, roughness, rudeness, shaking, or trembling."

Definitions of horror

1. noun

   intense and profound fear
   type of:

   fear, fearfulness, fright

   an emotion experienced in anticipation of some specific pain or danger (usually accompanied by a desire to flee or fight)
2. noun

   intense aversion
   synonyms: repugnance, repulsion, revulsion

   type of:

   disgust

   strong feelings of dislike
3. noun

   something that inspires dislike; something horrible
   “the painting that others found so beautiful was a horror to him”

   synonyms: anathema

   type of:

   thing

   an entity that is not named specifically
4. noun

   a genre of fiction that evokes suspense and feelings of fear
   type of:

   fiction

   a literary work based on the imagination and not necessarily on fact