macabre

adjective

ma·ca·bre mə-ˈkäb

-ˈkä-brə

-bər,

-ˈkäbrᵊ

Synonyms of macabre next

: having death as a subject : comprising or including a personalized representation of death

The macabre dance included a procession of skeletons.

: dwelling on the gruesome

a macabre presentation of a tragic story

: tending to produce horror in a beholder

this macabre procession of starving peasants

Did you know?

We trace the origins of macabre to the name of the Book of Maccabees, which is included in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox canons of the Old Testament and in the Protestant Apocrypha. Sections of this biblical text address both the deaths of faithful people asked to renounce their religion, and the manner in which the dead should be properly commemorated. In medieval France, representations of these passages were performed as a procession or dance which became known as the "dance of death" or "dance Maccabee"; the latter was spelled in several different ways, including danse de Macabré. In English, macabre was originally used in reference to this "dance of death" but then gradually broadened in use to describe anything grim or horrific. Today macabre functions as a synonym of gruesome or repulsive, always with a connection to the physical aspects of death and suffering.

Choose the Right Synonym for macabre

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 macabre in a Sentence

a macabre story of murder and madness Police discovered a macabre scene inside the house.

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Inside the vast, white manufacturing hall, bags and bags of blood dangle overhead, suspended from a steel rail like macabre baubles. —

Nicola Twilley, The New Yorker, 3 Feb. 2025 The action kicks off on February 14 with a macabre Valentines Day offering in The Dead Thing, which follows a woman who unearths a deadly secret during a romantic fling, and extends throughout the month. —

Jonathan Granoff, Newsweek, 28 Jan. 2025 Just as the rural is shorn of indigenous flora and female fetuses, as Balya observes in macabre ordinary fashion (referring to high rates of female infanticide), the dream of a life spent with special friend is a depletion reimagined as a marginal gain by the marginalized. —

Ritesh Mehta, IndieWire, 26 Jan. 2025 Netflix has invited fans to play non-lethal Squid Games, from The Challenge to immersive Squid Game: The Experience pop-ups on three continents, as though the point of the series was that macabre versions of childhood games are fun. —

Judy Berman, TIME, 26 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for macabre