A*tro"cious (&?;), a. [L. atrox,
atrocis, cruel, fierce: cf. F. atroce.] 1.
Extremely heinous; full of enormous wickedness; as, atrocious
quilt or deeds.
2. Characterized by, or expressing, great
atrocity.
Revelations . . . so atrocious that nothing in
history approaches them.
De Quincey.
3. Very grievous or violent; terrible; as,
atrocious distempers. [Obs.] Cheyne.
Syn. -- Atrocious, Flagitious, Flagrant.
Flagitious points to an act as grossly wicked and vile; as, a
flagitious proposal. Flagrant marks the vivid impression made
upon the mind by something strikingly wrong or erroneous; as, a
flagrant misrepresentation; a flagrant violation of duty.
Atrocious represents the act as springing from a violent and savage
spirit. If Lord Chatham, instead of saying "the atrocious crime of
being a young man," had used either of the other two words, his irony would
have lost all its point, in his celebrated reply to Sir Robert Walpole, as
reported by Dr. Johnson.
-- A*tro"cious*ly, adv. --
A*tro"cious*ness, n.
