A Latin phrase meaning 'the Year of Disaster'. This can also be interpreted literally as 'the horrible year' or 'a horrible year'. However, the solemnity surrounding
the common use of this phase, in
conjunction with the inflection typically given it, implies the definitive nature of the year. That is, Annus Horribilis is the worst year, the year of horror, disaster, and calamity. This
distinction is with respect to the speaker's own experience. That is the worst year of one's life imaginable. In general, people die or suffer fates worse than death.
"2020 was bad, but 2021 was my Annus Horribilis. I was so burnt out by my engineering school that I turned to alcohol abuse to battle depression and
suicidal thoughts. While planning our wedding, my fiance dumped me and as a result, I lost my perspective job working with her dad. As a result, I dropped out of school, guaranteeing another full year and a half of a school I hate, for a total of six years to get a Bachelor's Degree that I don't even want anymore. On top of this, a
philosophical role model of mine died and turned out to be a
sexual predator, my Mom spent months in and out of surgery, an Aunt and Uncle are getting divorced, and I have developed social anxiety to the degree that I find it extremely difficult to be around people for any amount of time, to the point of legitimate fear on many occasions. I now have lost all sense of peace, joy, and purpose.
Annus. Horribilis."
