[f. as prec. + -NESS.] The quality of being atrocious; heinousness.
1731. in Bailey.
1750. Johnson, Rambler, No. 8, ¶ 8. Withdraws his attention from the atrociousness of the guilt.
1793. trans. Beccaria’s Ess. Crimes, xiii. 49. The credibility of a witness is less as the atrociousness of the crime is greater.
