different between horrifying vs horrific

English

Verb

horrifying

1. present participle of horrify

Adjective

horrifying (comparative more horrifying, superlative most horrifying)

1. Tending to inspire horror; that horrifies; horrific.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:frightening

   • 2009: Stuart Heritage, Hecklerspray, Friday the 22^nd of May in 2009 at 1 o’clock p.m., “Jon & Kate Latest: People You Don’t Know Do Crap You Don’t Care About”

     Jon & Kate Plus 8 is a show based on two facts: 1) Jon and Kate Gosselin have eight children, and 2) the word ‘Kate’ rhymes with the word ‘eight’. One suspects that if Kate were ever to have another child, a shady network executive would urge her to put it in a binbag with a brick and drop it down a well. But this is just a horrifying tangent.

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