atrociousness

English

Etymology

atrocious +‎ -ness

Noun

atrociousness (uncountable)

  1. The state or quality of being atrocious.
    Synonym: atrocity
    • 1689, Francis Grant, Lord Cullen, The Loyalists Reasons for His Giving Obedience, and Swearing Allegiance, to the Present Government, Edinburgh: J. Reid, pp. 34-35,
      If there be joyned to [injustice] an other vice […] , if it be frequent and habitual, in a Person of perfect Age, all these Aggravations augment its Atrociousness.
    • 1830, Theodore Dwight Weld, The Bible against Slavery‎, New York, page 12:
      The atrociousness of a crime, depends greatly upon the nature, character, and condition of the victim. […] To steal bread from a full man, is theft; to steal it from a starving man, is both theft and murder.
    • 1958, T. H. White, The Once and Future King‎, New York: Putnam, Book 2, Chapter 12, p. 309:
      […] as the day dawned, the atrociousness of his conduct became apparent.
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