different between horrific vs insufferable

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

in- +? sufferable

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): [?n?s?f??bl?]
• (US) enPR: ?n-s?f'?r-?-b?l, IPA^(key): /?n?s?f??b?l/, [?n?s?f??bl?]

Adjective

insufferable (comparative more insufferable, superlative most insufferable)

1. Not sufferable; very difficult or impossible to endure.
   • 1894, Henry James, The Coxon Fund, ch. 4:

     Saltram was incapable of keeping the engagements which, after their separation, he had entered into with regard to his wife, a deeply wronged, justly resentful, quite irreproachable and insufferable person.

   • 1913, Edith Wharton, The Custom of the Country, ch. 13:

     Marvell . . . thought Peter a bore in society and an insufferable nuisance on closer terms.

   • 2011 June 7, "Chaos in Syria," Time:

     The oppressive heat has become insufferable in Syria — and as the temperature climbs, emotions get harder to contain.

Synonyms

• intolerable, unbearable

Related terms

• insufferableness
• insufferably

Translations

References

• insufferable at OneLook Dictionary Search