gruesome

or grew·some

[ groo-suh m ]

/ ˈgru səm /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR gruesome ON THESAURUS.COM

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.

Words nearby gruesome

grue, gruel, grueling, gruelling, gruenberg, gruesome, gruff, gruffy, grugru, gruiform, grum

Origin of gruesome

1560–70; obsolete grue to shudder (cognate with German grauen, Dutch gruwen) + -some¹

OTHER WORDS FROM gruesome

grue·some·ly, adverbgrue·some·ness, nounun·grue·some, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Examples from the Web for gruesome

A shortage of pentobarbital has forced some states to improvise, often with gruesome consequences.
Pennsylvania’s Lethal Injection Fiasco|Christopher Moraff|September 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Armed with the gruesome tools of the trade, Kaye and Armstrong did the dirty work before students arrived.
Edible Taxidermy: It’s a Good Thing|Lizzie Crocker|August 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Gupta has to entertain, as much as inform, around a gruesome situation.
Sanjay Gupta, on the Ebola Front Lines|Tim Teeman|August 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He said a perfect example is a gruesome image of a teenage girl whose head has been blown off.
Israel, Hamas, WhatsApp and Hacked Phones in the Gaza Psy-War|Itay Hod|July 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Reports describe a gruesome scene of “almost unspeakable horror” with “bodies everywhere, organs splayed out.”
Latest News on Malaysian Airliner Reportedly Shot Down Over Ukraine|The Daily Beast|July 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
These gruesome discoveries checked the singing and laughter, and for a while the men worked in silence.
Sea-Dogs All!|Tom Bevan
But the interior of the laboratory displayed no gruesome scene.
Astounding Stories of Super-Science January 1931|Various
It was a gruesome picture, for, even when he was invisible, it seemed to Fred he could see the gleam of those eyes fixed upon him.
Two Boys in Wyoming|Edward S. Ellis
Another, followed by fully twenty other savages, their gruesome faces showing surprise and bewilderment at sight of the youths.
Lost in the Wilds of Brazil|James H. Foster
If only she had waited five or ten minutes more before she started back into that gruesome cave.
The Ranch Girls' Pot of Gold|Margaret Vandercook

British Dictionary definitions for gruesome

gruesome

/ (ˈɡruːsəm) /

adjective

inspiring repugnance and horror; ghastly

Derived forms of gruesome

gruesomely, 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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

gruesome

or grew·some

adjective

Words related to gruesome

Words nearby gruesome

Origin of gruesome

OTHER WORDS FROM gruesome

Examples from the Web for gruesome

British Dictionary definitions for gruesome

adjective

Derived forms of gruesome

Word Origin for gruesome