NSW Selective & Scholarship

Learn “Atrocious”

A free exam-vocabulary guide with a precise meaning, natural context and a memory connection that makes the word easier to retrieve.

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NSW Selective & Scholarship

Atrocious

adjective/uh-TROH-shus/

Meaning

Extremely bad, shocking or of very poor quality.

In context

His handwriting was so atrocious the teacher couldn't read a word.

Remember it

Atrocious sounds like 'a-tro-shus' — a truly gross, shocking sort of awful.

Use it well

Use 'atrocious' for something shockingly bad, much stronger than just 'not good'.