atrocity
atrocity — noun
1. a deeply cruel or violent action that shocks people, especially one that harms o
a deeply cruel or violent action that shocks people, especially one that harms or kills civilians during a war or conflict.
Soldiers were ordered to investigate atrocities committed against villagers near the border.
atrocities committed against [people]
The journalist spent two years documenting wartime atrocities in three countries.
wartime atrocities
Survivors gathered in Berlin to demand justice for the atrocities of the long civil war.
The general was later put on trial for ordering atrocities against unarmed prisoners.
Photographs of the massacre helped the world understand the scale of the atrocity.
文法句型
commit an atrocity
atrocity against [people]
用法筆記
Almost always plural in news and historical writing; the singular tends to refer to one specific named event. Subject committing the act is usually a soldier, regime, or armed group, and the victims are unarmed people.
常見錯誤
2. an object, piece of clothing, or work of design that is so ugly or in such poor
an object, piece of clothing, or work of design that is so ugly or in such poor taste that you find it almost offensive to look at — used in a humorous, exaggerated way.
That orange velvet sofa in the living room is an absolute atrocity.
X is an (absolute) atrocity — informal
Zane turned up to the wedding wearing a yellow tie that Priya called a fashion atrocity.
fashion atrocity (informal)
The new shopping mall is a concrete atrocity that ruins the view of the old harbour.
Aunt Rosa's Christmas sweater is a knitted atrocity, but she wears it with pride every year.
- eyesore
specifically about something visually unpleasant in public; less playful than 'atrocity'
- monstrosity
very close — an ugly, oversized thing; slightly more about scale
- horror
informal exaggeration for something awful, often about clothes or décor
文法句型
X is an atrocity
用法筆記
Informal and deliberately exaggerated — speakers know nobody is really being harmed. Distinguish from sense 1: when the object is a hat, building, or painting rather than a violent action, this humorous sense is intended.