lurid

Use Lurid in a sentence

adjective

gruesome; horrible; revolting: the lurid details of an accident.

glaringly vivid or sensational; shocking: the lurid tales of pulp magazines.

terrible in intensity, fierce passion, or unrestraint: lurid crimes.

lighted or shining with an unnatural, fiery glow; wildly or garishly red: a lurid sunset.

wan, pallid, or ghastly in hue; livid.

Relevant Questions

Origin:
1650–60; < Latin lūridus sallow, ghastly

Related forms

lu·rid·ly, adverb

lu·rid·ness, noun

Synonyms
5. dismal, pale, murky.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To lurid

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Collins

World English Dictionary

lurid (ˈlʊərɪd, ˈljʊərɪd)

—*adj*
1.	vivid in shocking detail; sensational
2.	horrible in savagery or violence
3.	pallid in colour; wan
4.	glowing with an unnatural glare

[C17: from Latin lūridus pale yellow; probably related to lūtum a yellow vegetable dye]

'luridly

—*adv*

'luridness

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

lurid

1656, from L. luridus "pale yellow, ghastly," of uncertain origin, perhaps cognate with Gk. khloros (see Chloe). The figurative sense of "sensational" is first attested 1850.

Example sentences

Indeed, the public's interest in the trial was driven by more than lurid

fascination with the grisly details of the case.

The show turned the moment of an alleged predator's confrontation and arrest

into lurid home entertainment.

But it is also a commentary on the lurid appeal of shopping malls, which were

then multiplying quickly.

These lurid fears reflect a genuine turn in public opinion.

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metastasize pulp pulp fiction sensational tabloid tabloid TV

Matching Quote

"There was a time when all these things would have passed me by, like the flitting figures of a theatre, sufficient for the amusement of an hour. But now, I have lost the power of looking merely on the surface. Everything seems to me to come from the Infinite, to be filled with the Infinite, to be tending toward the Infinite. Do I see crowds of men hastening to extinguish a fire? I see not merely uncouth garbs, and fantastic, flickering lights, of lurid hue, like a trampling troop of gnomes—but straightway my mind is filled with thoughts about mutual helpfulness, human sympathy, the common bond of brotherhood, and the mysteriously deep foundations on which society rests; or rather, on which it now reels and totters."

-Lydia M. Child