appall
/əˈpɔːl/verb
appall is spelled A-P-P-A-L-L: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 31 million words in written English, the 169,822nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, appall means “To fill with horror or indignation; to dismay” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in appall?
| Letters | 6: A-P-P-A-L-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 31 million words; the 169,822nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is appall?
Appall appears about once in every 31 million words in written English, the 169,822nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce appall?
- /əˈpɔːl/
Appall has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Mélange_a_trois-appall.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of appall
- appalls present, singular, he/she/it
- appalling participle, present
- appalled participle, past
- appal
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does appall mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To fill with horror or indignation; to dismay.
The evidence put forth at the court appalled most of the jury.
- 2
obsoleteTo make pale; to blanch.
- 3
obsoleteTo weaken; to reduce in strength
- 4
obsoleteTo grow faint; to become weak; to become dismayed or discouraged.
- 5
obsoleteTo lose flavor or to become stale.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Appall in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to depress or discourage with fear; to impress with fear:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | atterrer, horrifier |
| German | entsetzen, abstoßen |
| Portuguese | consternar |
| Spanish | consternar, abrumar, apabullar, horrorizar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does appall come from?
From Middle English apallen, from Old French apalir (“to grow pale, make pale”); a (Latin ad) + palir (“to grow pale, to make pale”), pâle (“pale”), from pallere. See pale (adj.) and compare with pall.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).