different between horrid vs fearful
horrid
English
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin horridus (“rough, bristly, savage, shaggy, rude”), from horrere (“to bristle”). See horrent, horror, ordure.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /?h???d/
- (US) IPA(key): /?h???d/
Adjective
horrid (comparative horrider or more horrid, superlative horridest or most horrid)
- (archaic) Bristling, rough, rugged.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queen, I-vii-31, 2007, A. C. Hamilton (editor), Spenser: The Faerie Qveene, Revised 2nd Edition, page 98,
- His haughtie Helmet, horrid all with gold, // Both glorious brightnesse and great terror bredd.
- 1637, John Milton, Comus (A Mask Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634), 1852, Henry John Todd (editor), The Poetical Works of John Milton, Volume 4, 5th Edition, page 113,
- Yea there, where very Desolation dwells, / By grots and caverns shagg'd with horrid shades, / She may pass on with unblench'd majesty, / Be it not done in pride, or in presumption.
- 1697, John Dryden, The Works of Virgil: Aeneis, Book IX, 1779, The Works of the English Poets, Volume 18: Dryden's Virgil: Volume II, page 248,
- Horrid with fern, and intricate with thorn, / Few paths of human feet, or tracks of beasts, were worn.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queen, I-vii-31, 2007, A. C. Hamilton (editor), Spenser: The Faerie Qveene, Revised 2nd Edition, page 98,
- Causing horror or dread.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:frightening
- 1606 William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Macbeth, IV-iii, 1843, The Works of Shakespere, Volume 2: Tragedies, unnumbered page,
- Not in the legions / Of horrid hell, can come a devil more damned / In evils, to top Macbeth.
- 1611 William Shakespeare, Cymbeline, King of Britain, IV-ii, 1821, The Dramatic Works of William Shakspeare, Volume V, page 369,
- Give colour to my pale cheek with thy blood, / that we the horrider may seem to those / Which chance to find us;
- 1622, John Fletcher, Philip Massinger, The Sea Voyage, V-iv, 1866, The Works of Beaumont and Fletcher, Volume 2, page 327,
- Set out the altar! I myself will be / The priest, and boldly do those horrid rites / You shake to think on.
- 1885 Alfred Tennyson, Idylls of the King: Merlin and Vivien, 1870, The Poetical Works of Alfred Tennyson, Poet Laureate, page 166,
- What say ye then to fair Sir Percivale, / And of the horrid foulness that he wrought,
- Offensive, disagreeable, abominable, execrable.
- 1668 October 23, Samuel Pepys, Diary, 1858, Diary and Correspondence of Samuel Pepys, F.R.S., Volume 4, 6th Edition, page 39,
- My Lord Chief Justice Keeling hath laid the constable by the heels to answer it next Sessions: which is a horrid shame.
- 1714, Alexander Pope, The Rape of the Lock, Canto IV, 1836, The Poetical Works of Alexander Pope, Esq., page 68,
- Methinks already I your tears survey, / Already hear the horrid things they say,
- 1668 October 23, Samuel Pepys, Diary, 1858, Diary and Correspondence of Samuel Pepys, F.R.S., Volume 4, 6th Edition, page 39,
Usage notes
- According to OED, horrid and horrible were originally almost synonymous, but in modern use horrid is somewhat less strong and tending towards the "offensive, disagreeable" sense.
Synonyms
- abominable
- alarming
- appalling
- awful
- dire
- dreadful
- frightful
- harrowing
- hideous
- horrible
- revolting
- shocking
- terrific
Translations
References
- horrid in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- horrid in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
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fearful
English
Alternative forms
- fearefull (obsolete)
- fearfull (obsolete)
Etymology
From Middle English ferful, fervol, equivalent to fear +? -ful.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /?f??f?l/
- (General American) IPA(key): /?f??f?l/
- Rhymes: -???f?l
- Hyphenation: fear?ful
Adjective
fearful (comparative fearfuller or fearfuler or more fearful, superlative fearfullest or fearfulest or most fearful)
- Frightening.
- Tending to fear; timid.
- a fearful boy
- (dated) Terrible; shockingly bad.
- (now rare) Frightened; filled with terror.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.4:
- Those two great champions did attonce pursew / The fearefull damzell with incessant payns […]
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.4:
Synonyms
- (frightened): frightened, timid, timorous
- See also Thesaurus:afraid and Thesaurus:cowardly
Translations
Adverb
fearful (comparative more fearful, superlative most fearful)
- (dialect) Extremely; fearfully.
Further reading
- fearful in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- fearful in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
Anagrams
- Lauffer
fearful From the web:
- what fearful means
- what fearfully and wonderfully made mean
- what fearful tidings did it contain
- what fearful hand or eye
- what fearful symmetry
- what fearful symmetry mean
- what fearful in french
- what fearful means in spanish
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