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atrocious

atrocious

19 7.0
Being very bad and of low quality
  • adjective
  • /əˈtroʊʃəs/
translation icon : pésimo
  • The lesson to be drawn about them is how atrocious the war showed their judgment to be.
  • atrocious conditions
  • atrocious spelling
  • atrocious accent

My spelling is atrocious, but I'm guessing ventriloquism.

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Examples

  • They worked people for very low wages in atrocious health and safety conditions for very long hours.

  • David has always had the most atrocious judgment.

  • So no matter how atrocious your past was, you can create a different future.

  • I was an atrocious student, but there was one class I was always good at, history.

  • What I was not ready for was how atrocious this writing was and how boring it was too.

  • This semester has been atrocious.

  • They said the spelling was atrocious.

  • Your behavior has been atrocious, young lady, and it seems to have started when Ren MacCormack came to town.

  • While he described the atrocious conditions that debtors endured in prison, he also presented answers.

    Academic text (2007)
  • The service at the restaurant was absolutely atrocious, and we won't be going back.

Synonyms

bad
vsatrocious
1.0

Not good in quality or below the usual standard

is much stronger, marking extreme badness rather than ordinary poor quality
terrible
vsatrocious
1.0

Very bad or unpleasant and often serious

is similar but often used to stress very poor quality
horrible
vsatrocious
1.5

Very bad or frightening in a way that makes you feel upset

is much like that but centers on very poor quality
awful
vsatrocious
1.0

Very bad or unpleasant and causing dislike

is the neutral extreme term for very poor quality
lousy
vsatrocious
  • Informal
562 4.1

Very bad or mean and not liked by people

is more extreme in meaning than this common negative word
crappy
vsatrocious
  • NSFW
176 7.5

Very bad or of low quality

is similar in severity but more formal and stronger
hideous
vsatrocious
171 5.1

Very ugly and likely to make people feel shocked or disgusted

is general severe badness not limited to appearance
rotten
vsatrocious
160 1.0

Very bad and unpleasant to experience

is similar but does not imply decay or spoilage
vile
vsatrocious
157 5.0

Very bad and morally wrong

is general extreme badness without focusing on moral evil
dreadful
vsatrocious
136 3.7

Very bad and unpleasant, often causing fear or shock

is about severe poor quality rather than causing fear
appalling
vsatrocious
87 5.6

Causing shock and strong disgust because it is very bad

is equally extreme but used for plain poor quality too
horrendous
vsatrocious
82 7.0

Very shocking and scary, causing fear or disgust

is similar but more about poor quality than pure horror
gross
vsatrocious
  • Formal
65 4.3

Very serious and obvious, showing a large fault or failure

is about very poor quality rather than noticeable wrongdoing
unspeakable
vsatrocious
58 7.2

Too terrible to describe in words

is extreme as well but is more commonly described plainly
egregious
vsatrocious
58 8.9

Very bad and obvious in a way that shocks people

is the general extreme word without emphasis on being flagrant
crummy
vsatrocious
  • Informal
56 6.7

Low quality and unpleasant

is more intense and fits formal strong criticism
pitiful
vsatrocious
54 3.9

So bad or weak that people feel angry and look down on it

is about very poor quality without necessarily invoking pity
deplorable
vsatrocious
38 6.8

Very bad and unacceptable, deserving strong criticism

is extreme too but focuses more on poor quality than blame
stinky
vsatrocious
  • Informal
26 3.8

Very bad or of poor quality

is the general severe badness term not limited to smell
abysmal
vsatrocious
25 7.1

Very bad or of poor quality

is extreme too but used more generally for very bad things
abominable
vsatrocious
24 7.2

Very bad or morally wrong so people strongly dislike it

is mainly about poor quality rather than moral wrongness
odious
vsatrocious
  • Formal
20 8.2

Very unpleasant and likely to make people feel strong dislike

is about very poor quality rather than provoking hatred
god-awful
vsatrocious
  • Informal
16 8.4

Very bad and unpleasant

is extreme in meaning but more neutral in tone
wretched
vsatrocious
14 5.7

In very bad condition and of very poor quality

is the broader extreme label for bad quality without misery
godawful
vsatrocious
  • Informal
4 8.2

Very bad and unpleasant, of poor quality

is equally extreme but more neutral in tone
cruddy
vsatrocious
  • Informal
4 6.0

Dirty and not good quality

is focused on extreme overall badness rather than dirtiness
woeful
vsatrocious
4 5.5

Very bad in quality or condition

is a similar extreme but used more generally for unpleasant things
really sucky
vsatrocious
  • Slang
1 8.4

Very bad and disappointing to experience

is more formal and denotes a higher degree of badness
poopie
vsatrocious
  • Informal
1 9.2

An informal word used to say something is bad or low quality

is the same extreme idea but expressed in neutral adult language
pure shitpiss
vsatrocious
  • Offensive
9.9

A thing that is very bad and not worth having

is equally extreme but lacks vulgar slang
ropy
vsatrocious
  • UK
9.3

Of very poor quality and not good

is the same severe idea but usually in neutral register

Antonyms

1.0

Very good and likely to make you feel happy or amazed

1.0

Very good and better than most similar things

111 3.5

Of very high quality and extremely good

How Bad

atrocious
19 7.0
terrible
1.0
bad
1.0
poor
838 1.0

Surface Forms

atrocious positive
atrociouser comparative
atrociousest superlative

Etymology

Atrocious comes from the old Latin word atrox, which meant 'cruel' or 'fierce', and it shares the same root as atrocity. So atrocious can also be used to describe something that is shockingly 'very bad' or of very poor quality.