atrociousness
    n 1: the quality of being shockingly cruel and inhumane [syn:
         atrocity, atrociousness, barbarity, barbarousness,
         heinousness]

atrociousness \atrociousness\ n.
   1. the quality of being shockingly cruel and inhumane.

   Syn: atrocity, barbarity, barbarousness, heinousness.
        [WordNet 1.5]

Atrocious \A*tro"cious\, a. [L. atrox, atrocis, cruel, fierce:
   cf. F. atroce.]
   1. Extremely heinous; full of enormous wickedness; as,
      atrocious guilt or deeds.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Characterized by, or expressing, great atrocity.
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            Revelations . . . so atrocious that nothing in
            history approaches them.              --De Quincey.
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   3. Very grievous or violent; terrible; as, atrocious
      distempers. [Obs.] --Cheyne.
      [1913 Webster]

   Syn: Atrocious, Flagitious, Flagrant.

   Usage: 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.
          [1913 Webster] -- A*tro"cious*ly, adv. --
          A*tro"cious*ness, n.
          [1913 Webster]