appalverb [ T ]
-ll- UK US appall uk/əˈpɔːl/us/əˈpɑːl/to make someone have strong feelings of shock or of disapproval:
I was appalled at/by the lack of staff in the hospital.
The state of the kitchen appalled her.
More examples
- He witnessed some appalling acts of barbarism during the war.
- Conditions in the prison are said to be appalling.
- Your table manners are appalling - don't you know how to use a knife and fork?
- After her appalling behaviour, we had no option but to dismiss her.
- The standard of cleanliness in some of these restaurants is frankly appalling.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Making people sad, shocked and upset
- aback
- amiss
- be laughing on the other side of your face idiom
- bite
- bother
- burn
- hit/touch a (raw) nerve idiom
- horrify
- hurt sb's feelings idiom
- hurtful
- it'll (all) end in tears idiom
- laugh
- mess
- nose
- shake
- tear sb apart
- tear sb's heart out idiom
- torture
- traumatize
- twist/turn the knife (in the wound) idiom
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appalled
adjective uk/əˈpɔːld/us/əˈpɑːld/
an appalled silence/fascination