APPAL (appalled, appalling)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected forms: appalled    , appalling   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does appal mean? 

• APPAL (verb)
  The verb APPAL has 2 senses:

1. strike with disgust or revulsion

2. fill with apprehension or alarm; cause to be unpleasantly surprised

  Familiarity information: APPAL used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• APPAL (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they appal    ... he / she / it appals   
Past simple: appaled   
Past participle: appaled   
-ing form: appaling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Strike with disgust or revulsion

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

appal; appall; offend; outrage; scandalise; scandalize; shock

Context example:

The scandalous behavior of this married woman shocked her friends

Hypernyms (to "appal" is one way to...):

churn up; disgust; nauseate; revolt; sicken (cause aversion in; offend the moral sense of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence examples:

The bad news will appal him
The performance is likely to appal Sue

Sense 2

Meaning:

Fill with apprehension or alarm; cause to be unpleasantly surprised

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

alarm; appal; appall; dismay; horrify

Context example:

The news of the executions horrified us

Hypernyms (to "appal" is one way to...):

affright; fright; frighten; scare (cause fear in)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "appal"):

shock (strike with horror or terror)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence example:

The bad news will appal him

 Context examples 

For a moment or two we stood appalled, all save Lord Godalming, who was seemingly prepared for such an emergency.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Her prodigious innocence appalled him, freezing on his lips all ardors of speech, and convincing him, in spite of himself, of his own unworthiness.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

He pushed open a half-closed door, and we both stood appalled at the sight before us.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The bear edged away to one side, growling menacingly, himself appalled by this mysterious creature that appeared upright and unafraid.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

As I say, I was not afraid to meet my own death, there, a few hundred yards to leeward; but I was appalled at the thought that Maud must die.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

The enormousness of it appalled him.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Both the sisters seemed struck: not shocked or appalled; the tidings appeared in their eyes rather momentous than afflicting.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

There is my explanation; it is sad enough, Poole, ay, and appalling to consider; but it is plain and natural, hangs well together, and delivers us from all exorbitant alarms.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Or were they appalled by the gigantic load of debt which must bend the backs of many generations unborn?

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

She longed to add, “But of his principles I have”; but her heart sunk under the appalling prospect of discussion, explanation, and probably non-conviction.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)