atrociousa‧tro‧cious /əˈtrəʊʃəs $ əˈtroʊ-/ adjective 
Word Origin
atrocious weather Her singing was atrocious.► see thesaurus at bad—atrociously adverb
Word OriginWORD ORIGINatrocious
ExamplesOrigin:
1600-1700 Latin atrox ‘sad, cruel’, from ater ‘black’ + -ox ‘looking, appearing’EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
Thesaurus- an atrocious crime
- The traffic was atrocious.
- At the hub of the crisis, hospital conditions in Samara and Saratov were atrocious.
- Call it atrocious, horrendous, mystifying.
- Ordinary people here have shown they care about the atrocious living conditions of our indigenous peoples.
- The back lanes in the North Road area have been atrocious, people were dumping their rubbish in them.
- The event was well attended with people queuing at 9.00 am despite the atrocious conditions.
- The visibility was atrocious, perhaps forty yards, and I could see nothing.
- This is the B side of the new single and truly atrocious.
THESAURUSvery bad► awful/terrible/dreadful
extremely bad SYN awful: especially British English very bad: · The movie was awful.· Her house is in a terrible state.· a dreadful crime
► horrible very bad, especially in a way that shocks or upsets you: · He describes prison as ‘a horrible place’.· It was a horrible experience.
► disgusting smelling or tasting very bad: · The food was disgusting.· The fish smelled disgusting.
► lousy informal very bad or disappointing: · The weather has been lousy all week.· I’m fed up with this lousy job.
► ghastly British English informal very bad: · I’ve had a ghastly day.· a ghastly mistake
► severe severe problems, injuries, illnesses etc are very bad and serious: · The country faces severe economic problems.· severe delays· He suffered severe head injuries in a car crash.
► atrocious/appalling/horrendous extremely bad in a way that is shocking: · Her behaviour has been absolutely atrocious.· The country has an appalling human rights record.
► abysmal very bad and of a very low standard: · The team’s performance was abysmal.· the abysmal conditions in some prisons
Longman Language Activatorbad events/experiences/weather etc► bad not at all pleasant, enjoyable, or successful: · If the weather's bad, we could go to the museum instead.· bad housing conditionsbad news (=news of a bad event): · I'm afraid I have some bad news.a bad day/year/time etc (=when a lot of unpleasant things happen): · This was a very bad year for the banking industry.· It had been a bad day, and I just wanted to go home.
► awful/terrible/dreadful very bad: · The weather has been terrible lately.· Traffic in the downtown Boston area is awful.· Conditions in the hospital were dreadful. The place was falling apart and it was understaffed.
► appalling/atrocious so bad that you are shocked: · Living conditions in the refugee camps were atrocious.· The appalling weather continued, with harsh winds, fogs and heavy rain.
► horrendous extremely bad, unpleasant, and often frightening: · It was a horrendous storm.· She is still recovering from a horrendous car accident.
► horrific extremely bad, especially in a way that is frightening or upsetting: · It was a horrific experience. We really thought we were going to die.· The race was stopped after a horrific accident in which two drivers were killed.
► be a nightmare spoken informal use this to talk about an extremely bad experience or situation: · The traffic coming in to work this morning was a nightmare.· The President's trip turned out to be a nightmare for his security staff.be a complete nightmare: · Our vacation was a complete nightmare. The weather was awful and our hotel was worse.
atrocious weather Her singing was atrocious.► see thesaurus at bad—atrociously adverb