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.
"I must admit, I thought it was pretty gruesome to be perfectly honest," he said.
From BBC • May 6, 2026
DC Studios released its first trailer for “Clayface” on Wednesday, giving audiences a glimpse of the gruesome origins of the shape-shifting Batman villain.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 22, 2026
The only thing even more surprising is the status of Jayson Tatum, the superstar making $54 million this year whose gruesome injury was supposed to derail the season before it started.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 28, 2026
But there were no crashes on a course that has a track record for some gruesome wipeouts and evacuation by helicopter, a boost ahead of the February 6-22 Milan-Cortina Olympics.
From Barron's • Jan. 24, 2026
Nobody spoke as they settled down, looking around at the shadowy, gruesome pictures.
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
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.
