gruesome

adjective

grue·​some ˈgrü-səm 

variants or less commonly grewsome

: inspiring horror or repulsion : grisly

gruesome stories of wounded comrades

gruesomely adverb

gruesomeness noun

Synonyms

• appalling
• atrocious
• awful
• dreadful
• frightful
• ghastly
• grisly
• hideous
• horrendous
• horrible
• horrid
• horrific
• horrifying
• lurid
• macabre
• monstrous
• nightmare
• nightmarish
• shocking
• terrible
• terrific

Choose the Right Synonym for gruesome

ghastly, grisly, gruesome, macabre, lurid mean horrifying and repellent in appearance or aspect.

ghastly suggests the terrifying aspects of corpses and ghosts.

a ghastly accident

grisly and gruesome suggest additionally the results of extreme violence or cruelty.

an unusually grisly murder

suffered a gruesome death

macabre implies a morbid preoccupation with the physical aspects of death.

a macabre tale of premature burial

lurid adds to gruesome the suggestion of shuddering fascination with violent death and especially with murder.

the lurid details of a crime

Examples of gruesome in a Sentence

The police report described the scene in gruesome detail.

didn't stick around to hear the gruesome details of the car accident

Recent Examples on the Web

Ten people were murdered in the New York City subway system last year — including the recent, random and gruesome immolation of a homeless New Jersey woman asleep on a Brooklyn train — up from five murders in 2023. —Evan Simko-Bednarski, New York Daily News, 16 Jan. 2025

Did Hawthorne base these characters on the Rev. Ephraim Avery and his young congregant Sarah Maria Cornell, whose gruesome death in 1832 in Fall River, 50 miles south of Boston, shocked all of New England? —Liesl Schillinger, New York Times, 10 Jan. 2025

Cincinnati Police officers who initially responded to the call were advised to turn off their body cameras due to the gruesome nature of Kingsley's injuries. —Rachel McRady, People.com, 2 Jan. 2025

One of Baade’s ancestors lived through a particularly violent and gruesome experience. —Rachel Elspeth Gross, Forbes, 2 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

alteration of earlier growsome, from English dialect grow, grue to shiver, from Middle English gruen, probably from Middle Dutch grūwen; akin to Old High German ingrūēn to shiver

First Known Use

circa 1700, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

gruesome

adjective

grue·​some ˈgrü-səm 

: causing horror or disgust : horrible

gruesomely adverb

gruesomeness noun