horror

noun

• 1 [mass noun] an intense feeling of fear, shock, or disgust:children screamed in horror
• a thing causing a feeling of horror:photographs showed the horror of the tragedy [count noun]:the horrors of civil war
• a literary or film genre concerned with arousing feelings of horror: [as modifier]:a horror film
• intense dismay:to her horror she found that a thief had stolen the machine
• [as exclamation] (horrors) chiefly humorous used to express dismay:horrors, two buttons were missing!
• [in singular] intense dislike:many have a horror of consulting a dictionary
• (the horrors) an attack of extreme nervousness or anxiety:the mere thought of it gives me the horrors

• 2 informal a bad or mischievous person, especially a child:that little horror Zach was around