gruesome
93
6.2
- adjective
- /ˈɡruːsəm/
- NSFW
- As mayor of Cleveland, I must address the gruesome crime wave spreading across our city.
- gruesome deaths
- gruesome details
- gruesome stories
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Watch on YouTubeThe murders were gruesome and seemingly out of the blue.
- The murders were gruesome and seemingly out of the blue.
- So he died fairly young and died in pretty gruesome way that we'll we'll discuss.
- And it's very, very gruesome and just not a fun watch.
- Josephus in his wars with the Jews documents in very gruesome detail.
- You can imagine Assad in Syria today, who in fact probably has committed gruesome crimes.
- It's always weird to describe a murder mystery as fun, but like, it's not gruesome.
- It made me think of Reynard's Cahokians, of their gruesome pits full of executed men, women, and children.
- And it sounds pretty gruesome in in a way, right?
- But we do know with gruesome certainty that his number will come up.
Examples
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Never before has the battlefield been so vast and never before has the fighting been so gruesome.
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And plague is a gruesome disease.
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And it's very, very gruesome and just not a fun watch.
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And it's very, very gruesome and it's not a fun watch.
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And there are far more gruesome examples from the rest of the world.
Academic text (2006) -
I think this is probably top five most gruesome murders we've covered.
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May we ask you about the gruesome murders out at the Clutter home?
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Newspapers were full of gruesome stories about kids who were injured or killed while hopping trains.
Academic text (2011) -
The killing was bloody, gruesome and accompanied by much gratuitous cruelty.
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The movie's ending was so gruesome that many viewers left the theater feeling sick.
Synonyms
∞
1.5
Very bad or frightening in a way that makes you feel upset
200
5.5
Causing great fear or shock
134
4.2
Very harsh and severe, causing great difficulty or pain
103
4.5
Makes people feel very afraid and shocked
84
5.6
Causing shock and strong disgust because it is very bad
79
7.0
Very shocking and scary, causing fear or disgust
65
6.9
Being very strange and ugly in a way that shocks or amuses
63
4.5
Very bad and shocking, causing people to feel fear or sadness
47
4.1
A very unpleasant thing that shocks or disgusts you
41
6.8
Causing great fear and shock, often like death or ghosts
34
7.4
Something that makes you feel fear or disgust
27
7.3
Very cruel and shocking, causing strong fear
27
6.5
Showing a lot of blood and violence, often in films or news reports
26
8.7
Strange and upsetting because it shows death or injury
20
8.7
Shocking and sensational because it shows violent or disgusting details
16
7.0
Very frightening and unpleasant, like a bad dream
7
7.6
Very cruel and shocking, causing great pain and fear
2
4.2
Very bad or unpleasant in a strong way
Antonyms
Compounds
How Horrifying
Surface Forms
Morphology
gruesome = grue (semi-transparent) = grue + some
The structure 'grue' + '-some' (meaning 'causing') is morphologically regular, but 'grue' is rare/obsolete for many learners so the meaning may not be fully obvious.
Etymology
Gruesome comes from an old word grue which meant 'to shudder' or 'feel horror'. So something called gruesome is shocking or frightening in a way that makes you 'shudder', often because it involves injury or death.