appalling

UK/əˈpɔːlɪŋ/US/əˈpɔːlɪŋ/

adjectiveC1Common in everyday speech and writing · #5,991 of 15,258leans spoken

Appalling means shockingly bad or horrifying. Appalling conditions, an appalling mistake, absolutely appalling.

It is at the top of the range for disapproval and is used for genuine horror and for weather and service alike, which has worn it down somewhat in British speech. Appalling conditions is the standard phrase in inspection reports. Note appal; and that the word originally meant to grow pale — appalling is literally something that drains the colour from you.

Definitions of appalling

1adjectiveappallingShockingly bad or horrifying.C1
“The hotel room was appalling: the sheets were dirty and the shower didn't work.”
synonyms: dreadful, shocking

appalling is a quality of shocking badness.

Where it comes from

by surface analysis, appall + -ing.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Song of Ice and Fire

Practise this word

appalling in the wild

The original houses in the area were very slum-like tight rows with people living in appalling conditions.
Barnardtown
Tom Pryce dominated in appalling weather conditions from Jody Scheckter, giving the crowd a home driver to cheer in the absence of James Hunt.
1975 Race of Champions
In 1999, the society complained that renovation work carried out on Ballindooley Castle, was "an appalling intrusion on the landscape, and one step too far".
Galway Archaeological and Historical Society
Wexford adapted better to the appalling weather conditions and nullified the threat of Michael "Babs" Keating.
1965 All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling Championship final
The fiction was poor quality; the lead story, Ray Cummings' "Coming of the Giant Germs", has been described as "one of his most appalling stories".
Uncanny Stories (magazine)

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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