atroce

atrocious

adjective ah-TROH-cheh Rare

Origin: From Latin atrox (fierce, cruel).

Also means

terrible

Usage Note

Atroce has the same form for masculine and feminine: un dolore atroce, una morte atroce. It intensifies strongly — 'atrocious pain', 'a terrible crime' — and can be used hyperbolically in colloquial Italian for something merely very unpleasant: un caldo atroce ('an unbearable heat').

Examples

"Ha commesso un crimine atroce."

Natural Translation

He committed an atrocious crime.

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