Atrociousness

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  atrociousness \atrociousness\ n.
     1. the quality of being shockingly cruel and inhumane.
  
     Syn: atrocity, barbarity, barbarousness, heinousness.
          [WordNet 1.5]



From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Atrocious \A*tro"cious\, a. [L. atrox, atrocis, cruel, fierce:
     cf. F. atroce.]
     1. Extremely heinous; full of enormous wickedness; as,
        atrocious guilt or deeds.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Characterized by, or expressing, great atrocity.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Revelations . . . so atrocious that nothing in
              history approaches them.              --De Quincey.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. Very grievous or violent; terrible; as, atrocious
        distempers. [Obs.] --Cheyne.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     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.
            [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  atrociousness
       n : the quality of being shockingly cruel and inhumane [syn: {atrocity},
            {barbarity}, {barbarousness}, {heinousness}]