hor·ri·fy  (hôr ə-f ī′, h ŏr -)
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tr.v. hor·ri·fied, hor·ri·fy·ing, hor·ri·fies 1. To cause to feel horror: The citizens were horrified by the bombings. The guest was horrified at the rudeness of what he had said. 2. To cause unpleasant surprise to; shock: "I ... passed a mirror ... & was horrified at the shabbiness of my hat" (Margaret Suckley).
[Latin horrificāre, from horrificus, horrific; see HORRIFIC.]
hor′ri·fi·cation (-fĭ-kāshən) n. horri·fy′ing·ly adv. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2020 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices
Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:
Indo-European Roots
Semitic Roots
The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.
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