The Collaborative International Dictionary
Atrocious \A*tro"cious\, a. [L. atrox, atrocis, cruel, fierce: cf. F. atroce.]
Extremely heinous; full of enormous wickedness; as, atrocious guilt or deeds.
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Characterized by, or expressing, great atrocity.
Revelations . . . so atrocious that nothing in history approaches them.
--De Quincey. -
Very grievous or violent; terrible; as, atrocious distempers. [Obs.]
--Cheyne.Syn: Atrocious, Flagitious, Flagrant.
Usage: Flagitious points to an act as grossly wicked and vile; as, a flagitious proposal. Flagrant marks the vivid impression made upon the mind by something strikingly wrong or erroneous; as, a flagrant misrepresentation; a flagrant violation of duty. Atrocious represents the act as springing from a violent and savage spirit. If Lord Chatham, instead of saying ``the atrocious crime of being a young man,'' had used either of the other two words, his irony would have lost all its point, in his celebrated reply to Sir Robert Walpole, as reported by Dr. Johnson. [1913 Webster] -- A*tro"cious*ly, adv. -- A*tro"cious*ness, n.
Wiktionary
adv. in an atrocious manner
WordNet
adv. in a terrible manner; "she sings terribly" [syn: terribly, awfully, abominably, abysmally, rottenly]
to an extravagant or immoderate degree; "atrociously expensive" [syn: outrageously]
Usage examples of "atrociously".
Opposite the door, upon a flame-encompassed throne sat the Evil One with the lost archangels around him, seated on benches of terrible fire, according to the rank they formerly bore in the region of light - the lovely whelps - it would only be a waste of words to attempt to describe how atrociously ugly they were, and the longer I gazed upon them, sevenfold more frightful did they become.
They had used him as a butt because of his atrociously crossed eyes, certainly, but also because he had an innate uncouthness no amount of Roman polish ever managed to conceal.
Opposite the door, upon a flame-encompassed throne sat the Evil One with the lost archangels around him, seated on benches of terrible fire, according to the rank they formerly bore in the region of light - the lovely whelps - it would only be a waste of words to attempt to describe how atrociously ugly they were, and the longer I gazed upon them, sevenfold more frightful did they become.
This fable, so atrociously ingenious, was simply and impressively narrated, and with an air of candour well contrived to impose on the magistrate, or, at least, to suggest grave doubts to his mind.
The roots were atrociously slippery, his left leg dangled uselessly, and his arms and back were badly burnt, debilitating the boosted muscles.
The kitchen with its ranges I found would be almost quite suitable for my purpose, requiring but little alteration, but the large room was of course atrociously impossible in the American fashion, with unsightly walls, the floors covered with American cloth of a garish pattern, and the small, oblong tables and flimsy chairs vastly uninviting.