adjective General Slang

Horrorshow

/ˈhɒrəʃəʊ/ · adjective · slang

Nadsat for good, excellent, or first-rate, a pun on the Russian 'khorosho'.

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Definitions

1

The deliberate clash between the cosy meaning 'good' and the menacing English sound 'horror show' is part of Burgess's irony about violence.

“Calling a beating horrorshow captures Alex's gleeful, inverted morality.”
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2

Used adverbially to mean well or excellently, mirroring how 'khorosho' works in Russian.

“He sang it real horrorshow, the narrator says of a flawless performance.”
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3

In Nadsat, horrorshow means good, fine, or splendid. Source word: Russian 'khorosho' (хорошо), literally 'good' or 'well'; Burgess anglicised it into the sinister-looking 'horrorshow'.

“'A bit of the old ultra-violence' is described by Alex as a horrorshow way to spend an evening.”
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Horrorshow In A Sentence

That was a horrorshow bit of singing, nothing out of place.
Everything is real horrorshow now the rent is paid.
She looked horrorshow in her new platties for the evening.

Origin & Usage

Burgess coined it in A Clockwork Orange (1962) as a deliberate pun: the Russian 'khorosho' (good) reshaped to read like the English 'horror show', reflecting Alex's gleeful relationship with violence.

Variants horror show
Tags #nadsat#clockwork-orange#fictional#literary#approval

People Also Ask

What does horrorshow mean in A Clockwork Orange?

It means good or excellent. Despite looking like 'horror show', it comes from the Russian 'khorosho' for 'good'.

Why does horrorshow look like a scary word?

Burgess chose the spelling as a grim pun, so a word meaning 'good' visually evokes horror, mirroring Alex's morality.

Is horrorshow really from Russian?

Yes, the root is the genuine Russian adverb 'khorosho'; only the anglicised spelling is Burgess's invention.

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