horreur

horror, dread

noun oh-RUHR Less Common

Usage Note

Horreur expresses both the emotion of horror and the thing that causes it — un film d'horreur ('a horror film'). The exclamation quelle horreur! ('how awful!') is extremely common in casual French and can react to anything from a disaster to a fashion faux pas. Avoir horreur de means 'to detest' something.

Examples

"Elle a horreur des araignées."

Natural Translation

She detests spiders.

Literal Translation

She has horror of spiders.

Related Words

Explore French by topic

FrenchNow

French Numbers 1 to 100: Count With Confidence

French numbers 1 to 100 in one complete chart, with pronunciation, the et-un rule, hyphens, and the four-twenties system explained so you can count anywhere.

June 4, 2026 6 min read

FrenchNow

Avoir or Être? Picking the Right Past-Tense Helper

Use avoir for the passé composé unless the verb is reflexive or one of ~16 DR MRS VANDERTRAMP motion verbs, which take être and force agreement.

June 4, 2026 5 min read

FrenchNow

French Numbers 70, 80, 90 Made Simple

French numbers 70, 80, 90 are soixante-dix, quatre-vingts, and quatre-vingt-dix. Learn three build formulas to make any number 70-99 on the fly.

June 3, 2026 5 min read

FrenchNow

French Silent Letters: The CaReFuL Rule

Final consonants in French are silent by default — except C, R, F, L. The CaReFuL rule, the silent -e, the plural-s trap, and liaison, explained simply.

June 4, 2026 5 min read