horrify
hor·ri·fy/ˈhɔɹəfaɪ/verb
horrify is spelled H-O-R-R-I-F-Y: 7 letters and 3 syllables (hor·ri·fy). It appears about once in every 7 million words in written English, the 81,375th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, horrify means “To cause to feel extreme apprehension or unease; to cause to experience horror” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in horrify?
| Letters | 7: H-O-R-R-I-F-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: hor·ri·fy |
| In writing | about once in every 7 million words; the 81,375th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is horrify?
Horrify appears about once in every 7 million words in written English, the 81,375th 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 horrify?
- UK /ˈhɒɹɪfaɪ/
- US /ˈhɔɹəfaɪ/
Horrify has 3 syllables, split hor·ri·fy in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-horrify.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of horrify
- horrifies present, singular, he/she/it
- horrifying participle, present
- horrified participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does horrify mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To cause to feel extreme apprehension or unease; to cause to experience horror.
The haunted house horrified me, as I passed from one room to the next feeling more and more like I wasn’t going to survive.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Horrify in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to cause to feel extreme apprehension or unease:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | entsetzen, erschrecken, schockieren |
| Spanish | horripilar |
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 horrify come from?
From horror + -ify, or borrowed from Latin horrificare (cf. French horrifier). 1791, in form horrifying.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).