adjective
- Shockingly brutal or cruel.
- usage: "murder is an atrocious crime"; "a grievous offense against morality"; "a grievous crime"; "no excess was too monstrous for them to commit"
- synonyms: flagitious, grievous, monstrous
- Exceptionally bad or displeasing.
- usage: "atrocious taste"; "abominable workmanship"; "an awful voice"; "dreadful manners"; "a painful performance"; "terrible handwriting"; "an unspeakable odor came sweeping into the room"
- synonyms: abominable, awful, dreadful, painful, terrible, unspeakable
- Provoking horror.
- usage: "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"
- synonyms: frightful, horrifying, horrible, ugly
WordNet 3.0 © 2006 by Princeton University
| APA | WordNet. (2010). atrocious. Retrieved September 22, 2026, from http://smartdefine.org/atrocious/definitions/1168655 |
| Chicago | WordNet. 2010. "atrocious" http://smartdefine.org/atrocious/definitions/1168655 (accessed September 22, 2026). |
| Harvard | WordNet 2010, atrocious, Smart Define, viewed 22 September, 2026, <http://smartdefine.org/atrocious/definitions/1168655>. |
| MLA | WordNet. "atrocious" 23 October 2010. Web. 22 September 2026. <http://smartdefine.org/atrocious/definitions/1168655> |