gruesome
or grew·some
[ groo-suh m ]
/ ˈgru səm /
adjective
causing great horror; horribly repugnant; grisly: the site of a gruesome murder.
full of or causing problems; distressing: a gruesome day at the office.
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RELATED WORDS
terrifying, horrid, horrific, macabre, morbid, terrible, appalling, frightful, ugly, grisly, ghastly, horrendous, weird, shocking, hideous, grim, lurid, horrifying, abominable, fearful
Nearby words
gruel, grueling, gruelling, gruenberg, gruenberg, louis, gruesome, gruesomely, gruff, gruffly, gruffy, grugru
Origin of gruesome
Related formsgrue·some·ly, adverbgrue·some·ness, nounun·grue·some, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for gruesome
British Dictionary definitions for gruesome
gruesome
/ (ˈɡruːsəm) /
adjective
inspiring repugnance and horror; ghastly
Derived Formsgruesomely, adverbgruesomeness, noun
Word Origin for gruesome
C16: originally Northern English and Scottish; see grue, -some 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for gruesome
gruesome
1560s, with -some (1) + Middle English gruen "feel horror, shudder" (c.1300); not recorded in Old English or Norse, possibly from Middle Dutch gruwen or Middle Low German gruwen "shudder with fear" (cf. German grausam "cruel"), or from a Scandinavian source (cf. Danish grusom "cruel," grue "to dread," though others hold that these are Low German loan-words). One of the many Scottish words popularized in England by Scott's novels.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper