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
- gruesomely adverb
- gruesomeness noun
- ungruesome adjective
Etymology
Origin of gruesome
1560–70; obsolete grue to shudder (cognate with German grauen, Dutch gruwen ) + -some 1
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.
But after considering the most gruesome what-ifs, I reasoned that having a landline would guard against me missing emergency communications.
From Slate • Jan. 27, 2026
It’s an example that underscores how our gruesome microbial adversaries are not, after all, very old.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 23, 2026
Our glamorous and gruesome history is all there in a close-up of “Chinatown’s” Jack Nicholson: a movie star with a mutilated nose.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 15, 2026
That gruesome scenario is precisely what some analysts fear.
From Barron's • Dec. 17, 2025
“Wolves and gruesome ends, and signed with an A\ Does this mean it was Lord Fredrick who requested those disturbing tableaux and without your knowledge?”
From "The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: Book I: The Mysterious Howling" by Maryrose Wood
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.
