From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishappallingap‧pal‧ling /əˈpɔːlɪŋ $ əˈpɒː-/ ●○○ adjective 1 BADvery unpleasant and shocking SYN terrible She suffered appalling injuries. He was kept in appalling conditions in prison. an appalling famine2 BADvery bad SYN atrocious The weather was absolutely appalling.► see thesaurus at bad —appallingly adverb He behaved appallingly. an appallingly difficult job
Examples from the Corpus
appalling• I must admit my diet has been appalling.• People stop having children when the future they face is too appalling.• The weekend press was again appalling.• Animals were neglected and lived in appalling conditions.• The promises no longer have any substance for them, but that appalling fact has not penetrated their minds.• The standard American diet is appalling in its lack of imagination.• the city's appalling pollution• Not only are aitches dropped, appalling vocals now reign virtually supreme in the realm of pronunciation.• But emotionally he was pitiful, held to ransom by an appalling wife.absolutely appalling• He rightly said that passenger facilities were absolutely appalling, especially the absence of adequate public lavatories. 