gruesome
Americanadjective
-
causing great horror; horribly repugnant; grisly.
the site of a gruesome murder.
-
full of or causing problems; distressing.
a gruesome day at the office.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of gruesome
1560–70; obsolete grue to shudder (cognate with German grauen, Dutch gruwen ) + -some 1
Explanation
Gothic novels, horror movies, and crime dramas don't shy away from showing gruesome scenes of death, pictures that inspire fright and repulsion. Synonyms include "ghastly," "grisly," "loathsome," and "macabre." Once upon a time, English contained a variety of words related to gruesome. The verb grue meant "to shudder," just as its Middle Dutch source gruwen did. Grueful and grueing also conveyed the sense of shivering with horror and disgust. All of these variations have been lost leaving us only with gruesome. Texting while driving has caused many gruesome accidents that you might not want to hear the gruesome details of. Although if you like gruesome movies, you might want to know.
Vocabulary lists containing gruesome
The Devil's Arithmetic
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A Long Way Gone
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Beowulf vocabulary
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The United States rarely executes women, no matter how gruesome their crimes.
From Slate ● Aug. 25, 2026
A microbudget director saving the summer box office with a thoughtfully gruesome movie about naivety, misogyny and consequences is an inspiring Oscars meta-narrative.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
“Event Horizon” demonstrates a major theme in Neill’s most gruesome creature feature performances: the slow, onscreen transition from good to evil.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026
Meanwhile, US Democrats have introduced legislation to tackle both what they see as insider trading issues and gruesome markets on these websites.
From BBC ● May 21, 2026
They traced interesting names on some of them, like Mehitable and Josephus, and even gruesome verses about dying.
From "Miracles on Maple Hill" by Virginia Sorensen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
