horror of horrors
1
8.1
- idiom
- Informal
:
horror de horrores
- Oh no, horror of horrors, they miscalculated the budget and now we are overdrawn.
Examples
-
What if they're related to the Wicked Witch of the West and, horror of horrors, you don't know?
Blog text (23) -
There was evil present, and horror of horrors, that evil was my father.
-
Maybe he was just drunk, or, horror of horrors, had been born that way.
Fiction book (1999) -
Then, horror of horrors, someone posted a review that didn't like it: one star.
Blog text (15) -
Oh, horror of horrors, the streetcar might go a few blocks out of the way.
Blog text (12) -
I caught an early flight on Saturday to see my parents down in San Diego, and, horror of horrors, my carry-on bag was pulled aside for further questioning at the security checkpoint.
Blog text (5) -
horror of horrors, my favorite restaurant closed down unexpectedly this week.
-
Horror of horrors occurred when the power went out during the final game.
Synonyms
60
3.7
A situation that seems like a disaster but is often not as bad
Antonyms
How Regrettable
- Informal
1
8.1
92
3.7
469
1.2
- Informal
643
3.3
- Informal
1
9.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is a straightforward intensification built from the noun 'horror' repeated and linked by 'of', so a learner who knows 'horror' can infer that it means an extreme or most distressing instance of horror. This repetitive, amplifying construction is compositional and cross-linguistically common, making the overall meaning accessible to a B1 learner who knows the constituents.
Etymology
Horror of horrors comes from an old way of repeating a word to make the feeling much stronger. Imagine you see something bad and then something even worse; saying horror twice shows it is 'the worst thing'.