1
as in disgusting
causing intense displeasure, disgust, or resentment
opening your mouth to show me your half-chewed food is absolutely appalling
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in horrific
extremely disturbing or repellent
appalling crimes against humanity
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in shocking
to cause an unpleasant surprise for
conditions inside the house overrun with cats simply appalled animal control officers
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of appalling
Arthur Staple, The Athletic, 21 Mar. 2025
My coworkers labor tirelessly to provide the best care possible to these children and adolescents despite these appalling circumstances.
—Raja Krishnamoorthi, Newsweek, 13 Mar. 2025
White Lotus is an anthology series, following a different group of appalling rich people around a different lavish resort each season for a vacation that inevitably ends in someone’s death.
—Alex Abad-Santos, Vox, 10 Mar. 2025
The stories for the most part focus on the damage that will be done by the spending reductions and barely mention the appalling examples of fraud and waste.
—Nolan Finley, Twin Cities, 4 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for appalling
Adjective
There are so many questions that arise from this latest downturn: 2-5-2 in their last nine and an appalling 4-8-1 in their last 13 at the Garden, including four straight regulation losses.
—Arthur Staple, The Athletic, 21 Mar. 2025
My coworkers labor tirelessly to provide the best care possible to these children and adolescents despite these appalling circumstances.
—Raja Krishnamoorthi, Newsweek, 13 Mar. 2025
White Lotus is an anthology series, following a different group of appalling rich people around a different lavish resort each season for a vacation that inevitably ends in someone’s death.
—Alex Abad-Santos, Vox, 10 Mar. 2025
The stories for the most part focus on the damage that will be done by the spending reductions and barely mention the appalling examples of fraud and waste.
—Nolan Finley, Twin Cities, 4 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for appalling
Recent Examples of Synonyms for appalling
Adjective
-
These were disgusting, irresponsible comments by someone who is charged with overseeing public health for hundreds of millions of people.—
Thomas G. Moukawsher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
17 Apr. 2025
-
Do not tell the patient disgusting hospital stories about your own operations or procedures.—
Marla Jo Fisher,
Oc Register,
2 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Viscerally horrific, conceptually mindblowing, achingly humane.—
Ollie Barder,
Forbes.com,
9 Apr. 2025
-
With that horrific risk in mind, the crew hatches a new plan.—
Proma Khosla,
IndieWire,
9 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
Jung-bae wound up in a room of three, with Player 001 and some rando — but Player 001 choked the stranger to death in time to reduce their head count, shocking Jung-bae more than a bit.—
Matt Webb Mitovich,
TVLine,
26 Dec. 2024
-
Fox News Digital obtained shocking audio between Cyrus and his estranged wife where the country crooner is heard berating his Australian ex and using profane language.—
Ashley Hume,
Fox News,
26 Dec. 2024
Adjective
-
Players who are in strong lineups on teams prone to having awful lineups on the floor in the same games are prone to having skewed impact numbers.—
Law Murray,
New York Times,
14 Apr. 2025
-
The memes are endless as the LIV Golf star has played awful golf on Sunday.—
Thomas G. Moukawsher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
13 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Thoughtful, but gruesome is an apt descriptor for the film as well.—
NPR Staff,
NPR,
5 Apr. 2025
-
This was true of Fury (2015) as well, his brutal and gruesome war drama featuring Brad Pitt as a tank commander in the final days of World War II leading a platoon of hardened, traumatized, broken soldiers.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
3 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
But then two horrible shifts by the Wild turned the game upside down in the blink of an eye.—
Michael Russo,
New York Times,
5 Apr. 2025
-
Some veterans have impressed at the midpoint of coach Mike Norvell's spring-practice rebuilding as FSU aims to recover from last year's horrible campaign.—
Bob Ferrante,
The Orlando Sentinel,
5 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
What is disconcerting is when campaign donors and friends & family have commuted sentences after they have been legally convicted of terrible financial crimes.—
Sanjeev Menon,
Forbes.com,
14 Apr. 2025
-
Skinner had a terrible time of it for much of the season.—
Allan Mitchell,
New York Times,
14 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Scientists had initially feared this spread could represent another Ebola-like crisis — since that disease originated in animals, then jumped to humans, sickening and killing a large number of people.—
Paul Smaglik,
Discover Magazine,
19 Mar. 2025
-
The disconnect between the reality that many people are currently experiencing hunger, in part because of climate change, and this fancy dinner was sickening.—
The Dial,
The Dial,
18 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Appalling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/appalling. Accessed 22 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share