gruesome

or grew·some

[ groo-suhm ]
See synonyms for: gruesomegruesomelygruesomeness on Thesaurus.com

adjective
  1. causing great horror; horribly repugnant; grisly: the site of a gruesome murder.

  2. full of or causing problems; distressing: a gruesome day at the office.

Origin of gruesome

1
1560–70; obsolete grue to shudder (cognate with German grauen,Dutch gruwen) + -some1

Other words from gruesome

  • grue·some·ly, adverb
  • grue·some·ness, noun
  • un·grue·some, adjective

Words Nearby gruesome

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How to use gruesome in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for gruesome

gruesome

/ (ˈɡruːsəm) /


adjective
  1. inspiring repugnance and horror; ghastly

Origin of gruesome

1
C16: originally Northern English and Scottish; see grue, -some 1

Derived forms of gruesome

  • gruesomely, adverb
  • gruesomeness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012