1
as in disgusting
causing intense displeasure, disgust, or resentment
opening your mouth to show me your half-chewed food is absolutely appalling
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in horrific
extremely disturbing or repellent
appalling crimes against humanity
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in shocking
to cause an unpleasant surprise for
conditions inside the house overrun with cats simply appalled animal control officers
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of appalling
Jon Lee Anderson, The New Yorker, 27 Jan. 2025
Around the grounds: ‘Worst team in Man Utd history’, Foden in form, Real top La Liga
A few notes from a lively weekend, in the Premier League and beyond:
Ruben Amorim sucked up a 3-1 loss to Brighton & Hove Albion and another appalling error by goalkeeper Andre Onana.
—Phil Hay, The Athletic, 20 Jan. 2025
These evils are sensational and appalling, and there’s an impulse to perceive them as existing outside of our realities, perpetrated by people who aren’t like us.
—Billy J. Stratton, The Conversation, 17 Jan. 2025
Teni, just 2 years old at the time, was forced to witness the appalling scene unfold through a lens of innocence.
—Kyle Eustice, SPIN, 24 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for appalling
Adjective
The war is thought to have killed an appalling six hundred and twenty thousand people, from a population of twenty-two million.
—Jon Lee Anderson, The New Yorker, 27 Jan. 2025
Around the grounds: ‘Worst team in Man Utd history’, Foden in form, Real top La Liga
A few notes from a lively weekend, in the Premier League and beyond:
Ruben Amorim sucked up a 3-1 loss to Brighton & Hove Albion and another appalling error by goalkeeper Andre Onana.
—Phil Hay, The Athletic, 20 Jan. 2025
These evils are sensational and appalling, and there’s an impulse to perceive them as existing outside of our realities, perpetrated by people who aren’t like us.
—Billy J. Stratton, The Conversation, 17 Jan. 2025
Teni, just 2 years old at the time, was forced to witness the appalling scene unfold through a lens of innocence.
—Kyle Eustice, SPIN, 24 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for appalling
Recent Examples of Synonyms for appalling
Adjective
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The desire to avoid portraying her character’s actions as simply disgusting led de Van to play the lead role herself, in spite of the challenges that created for her as a first-time feature director.—
Jim Hemphill,
IndieWire,
27 Feb. 2025
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Selena Gomez has called out 'disgusting' weight shame As a former child star who grew up in the public eye, Gomez has long been subjected to conversations surrounding her weight.—
Jay Stahl,
USA TODAY,
27 Feb. 2025
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
Verb
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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
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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
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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
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 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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This is, on paper, a terrible idea for all involved.—
Zak Garner-Purkis,
Forbes,
27 Feb. 2025
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Until its proves otherwise, Miami sits mediocre at ninth-best in the 16-team AFC -- not terrible, surely not the dregs ... but not a contender.—
Greg Cote,
Miami Herald,
26 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Rosemary Farm in Santa Maria, California, has struggled to get by as bird flu ravages poultry populations across the U.S., sickening and killing birds and causing egg prices to spike.—
Phaedra Trethan,
USA TODAY,
14 Feb. 2025
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Plastic straws were also noted sticking out of sea turtle nostrils, and sickening or killing seabirds, fish, manatees, dolphins and other marine mammals.—
Susanne Rust,
Los Angeles Times,
12 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Appalling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/appalling. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.
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