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Terrible and horrible

Posted by R.Berg on April 08, 2003

In Reply to: Terrible and horrible posted by EE on April 08, 2003

: I was once told in England that terrible is more general in meaning than horrible which is more about visual things e.g. the horrible scence of a car crash, etc. Is that right? Or do they basically mean the same? Thanks.

They are different, but not in that way. Things that cause terror are terrible; things that cause horror are horrible. Terror is more like fear, and horror is more like disgust. For finer distinctions, you can consult any dictionary--or, better yet, several dictionaries, to build up a more complete picture.

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