1
as in horrific
extremely disturbing or repellent
an atrocious crime that shocked even hardened members of the police force
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in horrible
extremely unsatisfactory
the picture quality on the pirated DVD was atrocious
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in brutal
having or showing the desire to inflict severe pain and suffering on others
the atrocious treatment of prisoners at the camps
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of atrocious
With only one game left after this week, the Titans could have chosen to shut him down for the remainder of this atrocious season but opted to use him as a backup instead.
—
Gord Magill, Newsweek, 22 Dec. 2024
People can sneakily shape generative AI in ways that are atrocious, underhanded, and the like.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes, 16 Dec. 2024
The issue, of course, is that much of that data is atrocious.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes, 13 Jan. 2025
Two falling teams Tennessee stumbles The Lady Vols suffered their first loss of the season to Oklahoma, and their half-court defense was atrocious in the process.
—Sabreena Merchant, The Athletic, 6 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for atrocious
Gord Magill, Newsweek, 22 Dec. 2024
People can sneakily shape generative AI in ways that are atrocious, underhanded, and the like.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes, 16 Dec. 2024
The issue, of course, is that much of that data is atrocious.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes, 13 Jan. 2025
Two falling teams Tennessee stumbles The Lady Vols suffered their first loss of the season to Oklahoma, and their half-court defense was atrocious in the process.
—Sabreena Merchant, The Athletic, 6 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for atrocious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for atrocious
Adjective
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Once the fighting stops the horrific Russian losses of men and machines become daily additions to the armed forces.—
Holly Ellyatt,
CNBC,
20 Feb. 2025
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On the left, contemporary progressives have denounced the original progressive for his horrific opinions of black Americans.—
Christian Schneider,
National Review,
20 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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There are so many horrible things happening in the world.—
Marta Balaga,
Variety,
18 Feb. 2025
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Things that are too horrible to show are effectively submerged in the murk, an effective analogy for the workings of memory.—
Stephanie Bunbury,
Deadline,
15 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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The occasional injury is unavoidable in a tournament where the intensity is this high, but that doesn’t make the outcome any less brutal for Theodore and the Golden Knights. 4.—
Sean McIndoe,
The Athletic,
17 Feb. 2025
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Though the claims of uniquely brutal violence are mostly anecdotal, their shocking nature has become the cornerstone of such groups' outreach to Western leaders.—
Josh Hammer,
Newsweek,
14 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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The gruesome murder occurred after an argument about fraudulent credit card charges, prosecutors said.—
Muri Assunção,
New York Daily News,
20 Feb. 2025
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Over everything hovers the gruesome mystery of birth, that unnerving manifestation of female destiny by which a small person is formed within a larger one and bursts out like the alien in Alien.—
Stephanie Bunbury,
Deadline,
18 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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There have been plenty of terrible Oscar hosts over the years but this was a car crash that could easily have been avoided.—
Radhika Seth,
Vogue,
15 Feb. 2025
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Secrets bob to the surface like drowning victims from the deep until nobody — not even the reader — can easily separate the terrible truth from even more terrible fictions.—
M.L. Rio,
New York Times,
14 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Even then, the final late twist with the penalty felt particularly cruel.—
Patrick Boyland,
The Athletic,
23 Feb. 2025
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Directed by Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland, Still Alice highlights the cruel nature of the illness, where a person can still feel present while simultaneously losing pieces of themselves, creating a unique kind of grief.—
Travis Bean,
Forbes,
22 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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The escalating tension of that final act is as shocking and violent and viciously cold as anything in Franco’s filmography, which has seldom shied away from stark depictions of human cruelty — whether intimate in scale, like After Lucia, or encompassing explosive societal conflict, like New Order.—
David Rooney,
The Hollywood Reporter,
15 Feb. 2025
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Head coach Kevin O'Connell won Coach of the Year after the team secured a shocking 14-3 record.—
Josh Hammer,
Newsweek,
15 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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For a large part, the Heat’s supporting pieces have been awful this season.—
Ira Winderman,
Sun Sentinel,
25 Feb. 2025
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Hollywood continued to celebrate the fearless first responders who worked to save lives and property during the awful Los Angeles wildfires last month.—
Erik Pedersen,
Deadline,
23 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Atrocious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/atrocious. Accessed 1 Mar. 2025.
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