Appall
/əˈpɔːl/noun
To shock or horrify someone deeply.
Did you know?Appall began as a description of fear draining color from the face, linking emotional horror to the Latin verb pallēre, “to be pale.”
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*pel-
“Pale or lacking color”
Classical Latin
Latin
pallēre
“To be pale or grow pale”
Classical Latin
Latin
pallidus
“Pale, wan, or colorless”
12th–13th Century
Old French
apalir / appalir
“To make pale; to cause someone to lose color”
14th Century
Middle English
appallen
“To make pale with fear; to terrify”
Modern English
English
appall
“To shock, horrify, or deeply dismay”