gruesome or grew·some [groo -suh m]
Examples Word Origin
See more synonyms for gruesome on Thesaurus.com causing great horror; horribly repugnant; grisly: the site of a gruesome murder. full of or causing problems; distressing: a gruesome day at the office. Show More
Origin of gruesome 1560–70; obsolete
grue to shudder (cognate with
German grauen, Dutch gruwen ) +
-some1 Related forms grue·some·ly , adverb grue·some·ness , noun un·grue·some , adjective Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words for gruesome terrifying ,
horrid ,
horrific ,
macabre ,
morbid ,
terrible ,
appalling ,
frightful ,
ugly ,
grisly ,
ghastly ,
horrendous ,
weird ,
shocking ,
hideous ,
grim ,
lurid ,
horrifying ,
abominable ,
fearful Examples from the Web for gruesome Contemporary Examples of gruesome A shortage of pentobarbital has forced some states to improvise, often with gruesome consequences.
Armed with the gruesome tools of the trade, Kaye and Armstrong did the dirty work before students arrived.
Gupta has to entertain, as much as inform, around a gruesome situation.
He said a perfect example is a gruesome image of a teenage girl whose head has been blown off.
Reports describe a gruesome scene of “almost unspeakable horror” with “bodies everywhere, organs splayed out.”
Historical Examples of gruesome It is a gruesome doctrine, that a child who kills himself does not really die.
The interior of the ship faded to its gruesome green darkness.
The man and woman were chopping at the viscous, gruesome head.
Down by his feet the gruesome mangled corpses were the size of children.
It had all the imperfections of unskilful improvisation and its subject was gruesome .
British Dictionary definitions for gruesome inspiring repugnance and horror; ghastly Show More
Derived Forms gruesomely , adverb gruesomeness , 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 adj. 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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
