bloodcurdling

American  

[bluhd-kurd-ling, -kur-dl-ing] / ˈblʌdˌkɜrd lɪŋ, -ˌkɜr dl ɪŋ /

adjective

1. arousing terror; horrifying.

   a bloodcurdling scream.

---

bloodcurdling British  

/ ˈblʌdˌkɜːdlɪŋ /

adjective

1. terrifying; horrifying

---

Other Word Forms

• bloodcurdlingly adverb

Etymology

Origin of bloodcurdling

First recorded in 1930–35; blood + curdle + -ing ²

Example Sentences

The younger Swanburne girls had lived in terror of her bloodcurdling scream, which was put to good use every autumn at Heathcote’s annual Haunted Hay Maze festival.

From Literature

“No matter what terrifying and bloodcurdling events unfold during the séance, you must stay perfectly still and quiet as mice. No howling! No barking! No biting!”

From Literature

After six seasons, Peaky Blinders reached its bloodcurdling finish on TV in 2022 and had used the West Midlands backdrop for many locations, such as the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley.

From BBC

One woman let out a “bloodcurdling” scream, which Runyan said would “stick with him forever.”

From Los Angeles Times

Yet I was also transfixed: Chris Nash’s direction is so persuasively bold — brazen, really — and bloodcurdlingly coolheaded that his unusual shocker is impossible to dismiss.

From New York Times