horror / dread
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to be dreadful to someone
An idiom that expresses that someone absolutely dislikes something, or finds it terrible or awful.
Diese Art von lauter Musik ist mir ein Graus.
This kind of loud music is dreadful to me.
'Der Graus' (horror/dread) belongs to a word family connected with fear and disgust. Related words are the adjective 'grausam' (cruel) and the verb 'grauen' in the expression 'jemandem graut vor etwas' (someone dreads something).
Mir graut schon vor der Prüfung nächste Woche.
I'm already dreading the exam next week.
The most common use is the fixed expression 'jemandem ein Graus sein' (to be dreadful to someone). The person who finds something terrible is always in the dative here, e.g. 'mir' (to me), 'dir' (to you), 'ihm' (to him).
Frühes Aufstehen am Wochenende ist mir ein Graus.
Getting up early on the weekend is dreadful to me.
When 'der Graus' (horror/dread) is used on its own as a noun for 'Schrecken' (fear/horror) or 'Entsetzen' (horror), it often sounds elevated or literary. In normal usage, the fixed expression 'jemandem ein Graus sein' (to be dreadful to someone) is much more common.
Der Anblick der Zerstörung war der pure Graus.
The sight of the destruction was pure horror.
joy
'die Freude' and 'der Graus' can express a strong contrast. 'Freude' shows that you experience something positively or enjoy something. 'Graus', by contrast, expresses strong disgust, horror, or great aversion. Especially in the phrase 'jemandem ein Graus sein', it means: someone finds something dreadful or does not like it at all. So the contrast is: something brings Freude, or something is 'jemandem ein Graus' (dreadful to someone).
Lange Telefonate mit Behörden sind dem Verkäufer ein Graus.
Long phone calls with government offices are dreadful to the salesperson.
Das gemeinsame Kochen macht der ganzen Familie Freude.
Cooking together brings joy to the whole family.