Word of The Day for Tuesday, February 15, 2011

horrent

hor•rent (HAWR-uhnt)  adj

Definition:
1. standing erect, as bristles; covered with bristling points; bristling
2. horrible; abhorring


Origin:
1667; Latin horrent-  (stem of horrens,  present participle of horrere  "to stand on end, bristle with fear"), equivalent to horr- + -ent

Related:
Related Words: horrendous, horrid, hirsute, horripilation, horrible, horrific, abhor, horror

Sentence Examples:
• Voluminously the bloated boa convolves before him. All horrent the cobra exalts his hooded head, and the spanning jaws fly open. -The Fiend's Delight, Dod Grile

•  One look below the Almighty gave,
   Where streamed the lion-flags of thy proud foe;
   And near and wider yawned the horrent grave.
-The Invincible Armada, Poems of The Second Period, Frederich Schiller

• And worse and hatefuller our woes on land;
  For where we couched, close by the foeman's wall,
  The river-plain was ever dank with dews,
  Dropped from the sky, exuded from the earth,
  A curse that clung unto our sodden garb,
  And hair as horrent as a wild beast's fell.
-The House of Atreus, AEschylus


Sources: Wordnik, Dictionary.com

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

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