different between horrific vs fearsome

English

Alternative forms

• horrifick (obsolete)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin horrificus, from horre? (“to be afraid”) + -fic? (“to make”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /h????f?k/, /h????f?k/, /h????f?k/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /h????f?k/, /h????f?k/
• (General New Zealand) IPA^(key): /h????f?k/, /h????f?k/
• Rhymes: -?f?k

Adjective

horrific (comparative more horrific, superlative most horrific)

1. Horrifying, causing horror; horrible.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:frightening

Usage notes

• Like many terms that start with a non-silent h but have emphasis on their second syllable, some people precede horrific with an, others with a.

Related terms

• horrible
• horrifical
• horrification
• horrify
• horror
• horrendous

Translations

English

Etymology

From fear +? -some. Compare German furchtsam (“fearful”, obsolete also “fearsome”), which this is more closely equivalent to English frightsome, however.

Adjective

fearsome (comparative more fearsome, superlative most fearsome)

1. frightening, especially in appearance.
2. (rare or archaic) fearful, frightened

Related terms

• fear
• fearful

Translations