appall
Definitions
-
WordNet 3.6
- v appall fill with apprehension or alarm; cause to be unpleasantly surprised "I was horrified at the thought of being late for my interview","The news of the executions horrified us"
- v appall strike with disgust or revulsion "The scandalous behavior of this married woman shocked her friends"
- ***
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
-
- n Appall Terror; dismay.
- Appall To depress or discourage with fear; to impress with fear in such a manner that the mind shrinks, or loses its firmness; to overcome with sudden terror or horror; to dismay; as, the sight appalled the stoutest heart. "The house of peers was somewhat appalled at this alarum."
- Appall To grow faint; to become weak; to become dismayed or discouraged.
- Appall To lose flavor or become stale.
- Appall To make pale; to blanch. "The answer that ye made to me, my dear, . . . Hath so appalled my countenance."
- Appall To weaken; to enfeeble; to reduce; as, an old appalled wight. "Wine, of its own nature, will not congeal and freeze, only it will lose the strength, and become appalled in extremity of cold."
- ***
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
-
- n appall See appal.
- ***
Quotations
-
“We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people.” -
“I'm the end of the line; absurd and appalling as it may seem, serious New York theater has died in my lifetime.” -
“The appalling thing is the degree of charity women are capable of. You see it all the time... love lavished on absolute fools. Love's a charity ward, you know.” -
“A high station in life is earned by the gallantry with which appalling experiences are survived with grace.” -
“The horror of wedlock, the most appalling, the most loathsome of all the bonds humankind has devised for its own discomfort and degradation.” -
“Make it a rule of life never to regret and never to look back. Regret is an appalling waste of energy; you can't build on it; it's only good for wallowing in.”
Etymology
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
OF. appalir, to grow pale, make pale; a,L. ad,) + pâlir, to grow pale, to make pale, pâle, pale. See Pale, (a.), and cf. Pall
Usage
In literature:
It is perhaps for this very reason that his stories have such an air of appalling reality.
"Suspended Judgments" by John Cowper Powys
But who could have perpetrated the appalling deed?
"Wagner, the Wehr-Wolf" by George W. M. Reynolds
The financial catastrophe appalled her.
"Colorado Jim" by George Goodchild
Then the silence was broken in appalling fashion.
"The Sign of the Spider" by Bertram Mitford
At first sight its bulk almost appalls.
"The Book of the National Parks" by Robert Sterling Yard
As the train bearing the writer sped eastward, the reports at each stop grew more appalling.
"The Johnstown Horror" by James Herbert Walker
Leaving this appalling scene, the boy and the stranger passed on, until they stood before a cave which was literally crammed with human beings.
"City Crimes" by Greenhorn
I should be driven into saying appalling things, and our reputation might be ruined for ever.
"The Rhodesian" by Gertrude Page
Broth or eggs he sickened at and turned from, and, indeed, the one was greasy and salt, the others of appalling mustiness.
"The Dop Doctor" by Clotilde Inez Mary Graves
I hastened to the door and was appalled at the sight.
"Shadow and Light" by Mifflin Wistar Gibbs
***
In poetry:
But Jaspar's threats and curses fail'd
The traveller to appal,
He would not lightly yield the purse
That held his little all.
The traveller to appal,
He would not lightly yield the purse
That held his little all.
"Jaspar" by Robert Southey
Nor doth the outward ear alone
At that high warning start;
Conscience gives back th' appalling tone;
'Tis echoed in the heart.
At that high warning start;
Conscience gives back th' appalling tone;
'Tis echoed in the heart.
"Whitsunday" by John Keble
And up and up I watch it press
Into appalling loneliness;
Like realms of ice without a stain,
A corpse Moon come to life again.
Into appalling loneliness;
Like realms of ice without a stain,
A corpse Moon come to life again.
"Moon-Lover" by Robert W Service
For where-e'er the sun does shine.
And where-e'er the rain does fall:
Babe can never hunger there,
Nor poverty the mind appall.
And where-e'er the rain does fall:
Babe can never hunger there,
Nor poverty the mind appall.
"Holy Thursday (Experience)" by William Blake
These patient walls
Seem half to know what suffering befalls
The steadfast soul whom destiny appalls
And circumstance enthralls.
Seem half to know what suffering befalls
The steadfast soul whom destiny appalls
And circumstance enthralls.
"The Last Room" by Bliss William Carman
She stood appall'd; yet still the charm
Upheld her sinking soul;
Yet each bent knee the other smote,
And each wild eye did roll.
Upheld her sinking soul;
Yet each bent knee the other smote,
And each wild eye did roll.
"Gondoline" by Henry Kirke White
In news:
Are voters aware of the appallingly slick mailers and TV spots that only bad-mouth Democratic candidates without naming their GOP opponents.
As a young child, I was very much enamored with romance (my Barbies were subjected to appallingly long balls — Ken was very urbane in his own way).
Glenn Greenwald is appalled that Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel and Boston mayor Thomas Menino are trying to block Chick-fil-A from opening stores in their cities because the company's CEO opposes gay marriage.
I'm tired of the lengthly campaign, sick of all the election posters and advertising and appalled at the amount of money expended on behalf of the candidates.
I found Hans Backe's vision of soccer, and his teams, quite appalling.
Loyal to a fault, the spitfire Diva seems so head-over-heels for the World Heavyweight Champion that she is blind to the appallingly inconsiderate treatment he dishes out.
'Horrified and appalled' by the Bellevue Police Department.
Hospital chairman slams "truly appalling" decision to air the prank call on 2Day FM.
As a 40-year Willows resident and a former member of Menlo Park's Transportation Commission, I am appalled that the city seems determined to repeat the 1993 Willows traffic calming fiasco.
Monica Marroquin and Chelsea Gamez are appalled by child molestation charges filed against their father Antonio Marroquin faces.
Yesterday, we were shocked and appalled by Christie Brinkley's robotic spouting of random platitudes on the witness stand during her divorce trial.
As a longtime Alaska health care consultant I was shocked and appalled when I opened my email news feed from the US Department of Health and Human Services today.
I'm appalled that it would even be published in the paper.
Court-martial ordered in appalling WikiLeaks espionage case.
As a human being, I am appalled that someone could commit such an insane act and actually pull that trigger ending those young lives.
***
In science:
Having written the first 15 pages of this paper we were appalled by the amount of the space saturated by explicit cocycles.
Infinitesimal deformations of symmetric simple modular Lie algebras and Lie superalgebras
***