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.
The United States rarely executes women, no matter how gruesome their crimes.
From Slate ● Aug. 25, 2026
“Event Horizon” demonstrates a major theme in Neill’s most gruesome creature feature performances: the slow, onscreen transition from good to evil.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026
Meanwhile, US Democrats have introduced legislation to tackle both what they see as insider trading issues and gruesome markets on these websites.
From BBC ● May 21, 2026
Now that we have been exposed to the true, gruesome history of America, our view of the country has changed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026
It was an impossibly complex and gruesome plan, likely beyond the powers of anyone to execute, but his description is noteworthy for what it revealed, without his intention, about his astigmatic soul.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
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.
