Gruesome

Definition: Gruesome

Gruesome

Adjective

1. Shockingly repellent; inspiring horror; "ghastly wounds"; "the grim aftermath of the bombing"; "the grim task of burying the victims"; "a grisly murder"; "gruesome evidence of human sacrifice"; "macabre tales of war and plague in the Middle ages"; "macabre tortures conceived by madmen".

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "gruesome" was first used: 1570. (references)

Note: Gruesome \Grue"some\, adjective. Same as Grewsome. [Scottish]. (references)

Synonyms: Gruesome

Ugliness

Squalid, haggard; grim, grim faced, grim visaged; grisly, ghastly; ghost like, death like; cadaverous, grewsome, gruesome.

Crosswords: Gruesome

Now the video doesn't seem so gruesome. (Charmed; writing credit: Colman deKay)

What a gruesome idea (Another Thin Man; writing credit: Dashiell Hammett; Frances Goodrich)

Gruesome isn't he (Red Dragon; writing credit: Ted Tally)

The Gruesome Twosome (1967)

Robinson Gruesome (1959)

Dark and Gruesome Tall (1948)

Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome (1947)

A Gruesome Twosome (1945)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Books

• Christopher Lee, Tall, Dark and Gruesome (reference)

• Gruesome John Frederick: A Tale of Christmas (reference)

• Music Horror Stories : A Collection of Gruesome, True Tales... (reference)

• Nice Job: The Guide to Cool, Odd, Risky, and Gruesome Ways to Make a Living (Lookout Media Series) (reference)

• The Brothers Gruesome (reference)

  (more book examples)

Theater & Movies

• Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome / Dick Tracy, Detective (reference)

• The Gruesome Twosome (Special Edition) (reference)

• Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome (reference)

• Meets Gruesome (reference)

  (more DVD examples; more video examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Chungking, China. This gruesome scene is of bodies of Chinese, including men, women and children stacked in piles on the landing leading from the big public air raid bomb tunnel in which over 700 died during a night raid by Japanese bombers. Credit: Library of Congress.

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

Beginning with "gruesome": gruesome-looking.

Afrikaans

afskuwelik (abhorrent, abominable, abysmal, alien, awful, dreadful, hideous, horrible, terrible). (various references)

Albanian

i tmerrshëm (appalling, awesome, awful, Creese, damnable, darn, deadly, deuced, dire, direful, eldritch, enormous, frightful, hideous, horrible, horrid, infernal, macabre, parlous, perishing, redoubtable, redoubted, sad, scary, terrible, terrific, towering, tragic, tremendous), i frikshëm (bloodcurdling, dreadful, eerie, eery, fearful, fearsome, forbidding, formidable, frightful, grisly, horrible, horrid, morbid, redoubtable, redoubted, terrific, tremendous). (various references)

Arabic 

‏مخيف (awful, dreadful, fearful, fearsome, frightening, frightful, grisly, horrifying, scaremonger, terrifying), ‏مروع (alarmed, appalling, awful, dreadful, frightened, frightening, frightful, ghastly, grisly, horrible, horrific, horrified, horrifying, macabre, panic stricken, scared, shocked, shocking, startled, startling, terrified, terrifying, terror stricken, terrorized), ‏رهيب (bloodcurdling, bloody, chilly, dire, dreadful, fearful, fierce, grisly, hairy, holy, horrible, horrific, lurid, macabre, monstrous, morbid, nightmarish, redoubtable, smashing, super, terrible, wretched), ‏شنيع (atrocious, awful, crying, enormous, foul, ghastly, ghoulish, heinous, hideous, monstrous, nefarious, obnoxious, outrageous, ugly), ‏بشع (atrocious, grasping, grievous, hideous, homely, horrid, shapeless, ugly, ungainly, unhandsome, unpleasant, unsightly). (various references)

Bulgarian 

страшен (alarming, almighty, apocalyptic, awesome, awful, dire, dreadful, fearful, fearsome, forbidding, formidable, frightful, grisly, hair raising, horrible, redoubtable, scary, terrible, terrific, tremendous, wicked), ужасен (aghast, appalling, awful, bloodcurdling, deadly, desperate, deuced, devastating, dire, direful, dreadful, eldritch, execrable, fearful, fearsome, frantic, frightful, furious, ghastly, great, grievous, grisly, horrible, horrid, horror-stricken, lurid, macabre, miserable, morbid, murderous, planet-stricken, planet-struck, precious, sad, septic, terrible, terrific, towering, tremendous, unholy, unmentionable, vicious, wretched), отвратителен (abhorrent, abominable, accursed, accurst, atrocious, awful, beastly, bestial, carrion, creepy, cursed, damnable, detestable, disgustful, disgusting, distasteful, execrable, foul, fulsome, hateful, heinous, hideous, horrible, ill-favored, ill-favoured, infamous, loathsome, lousy, miserable, morbid, nasty, nauseous, noisome, odious, offensive, punk, putrid, rank, repellent, revolting, rotten, septic, shocking, sickening, ugly, unholy, unsavory, unsavoury, unspeakable, villainous, wicked). (various references)

Chinese 

可怕 (Awful, Dire, Fearful, Fearsome, frightful, Grewsome, horrendous, horrible, horrid, horrific, macaber, macabre, redoubtable, scary, terrible). (various references)

Czech

strašný (awful, chronic, dire, distressing, dreadful, fearful, fearsome, formidable, frightful, ghastly, hairy, hellish, hideous, hopeless, horrible, horrific, terrible, tremendous), strašlivý (direful, dreadful, stark), příšerný (appalling, atrocious, blinding, chronic, creepy, damnable, dreadful, excruciating, fearful, fiendish, ghastly, grisly, horrendous, terrible, terrific, unholy, unspeakable, villainous, weird), dìsný (awful, dreadful, fearsome, great, grim, grisly, hair-rising, hairy, horrid, lurid, macabre, unearthly, unholy). (various references)

Danish

skrækkelig (abysmal, dreadful, horrible, terrible), rædsom (abysmal, alarmed, dismayed, dreadful, dumbfounded, horrible, put out of countenance, terrible), forfærdelig (abysmal, alarmed, dismayed, dreadful, dumbfounded, horrible, put out of countenance, terrible). (various references)

Dutch

griezelig (eerie, grisly, macabre), ýzingwekkend (eerie, grisly, macabre), ijselijk (hideous, horrible, terrible), ijzingwekkend (macabre), afgrýselýk (abhorrent, abominable, agonizing, alien, awful, dismal, dreary, ghastly, hideous, horrible, nasty), afgrijselijk (hideous, horrible), afschuwelýk (abhorrent, abominable, agonizing, alien, awful, dismal, dreary, ghastly, hideous, horrible, nasty), afschuwelijk (hideous, horrible), afschuwelijk (abhorrent, alien, dreary, hideous, nasty), eng (close, cramped, eerie, grisly, macabre, narrow), ýselýk (abhorrent, abominable, abysmal, alien, awful, dreadful, hideous, horrible, terrible), ijselijk (abominable, alien, dreadful, terrible), vreselijk (horrible, terrible), luguber (gaunt, ghastly, horrible), schrikaanjagend (abysmal, dreadful, horrible, terrible), verfoeilýk (abhorrent, abominable, alien, awful, hideous, horrible), verfoeilijk (hideous, horrible), verschrikkelýk (abysmal, awfully, dreadful, horrible, terrible), verschrikkelijk (horrible, terrible), vervaarlýk (abysmal, dreadful, horrible, terrible), vervaarlijk (horrible, terrible), vreselýk (abysmal, dreadful, horrible, terrible), huiveringwekkend (gaunt, ghastly, horrible). (various references)

Esperanto

tremiga (eerie, grisly, macabre), timtremiga (gaunt, ghastly, horrible), terura (abysmal, dreadful, horrible, terrible), harstariga (eerie, grisly, macabre), abomeninda (abhorrent, abominable, alien, awful, hideous, horrible). (various references)

Faeroese

ræðuligur (abysmal, dreadful, horrible, terrible). (various references)

Farsi 

مهیب (Grisly, Hideous, Horrendous, Horrible, Horrid, Macabre, Terrific, Tremendous, Ugsome), مخوف (Ghastly, Hideous, Horrible, Ugsome), نفرت انگیز (Detestable, Execrable, Horrid, Invidious, Loathsome, Obnoxious, Odious), وحشت اور (Awesome, Morbid, Terrible). (various references)

Finnish

kolkko (desolate, dismal, dreary, gloomy, raw), karmea (bitter, grisly, harsh), kaamea (ghastly, grisly, uncanny). (various references)

French

terrible, horrible (grisly), affreux (grievous). (various references)

Frisian

in griis (abhorrent, abominable, alien, awful, hideous, horrible), ôfgryslik (abhorrent, abominable, agonizing, alien, awful, ghastly, hideous, horrible). (various references)

German

grausig (grisly, horrible, lurid, macabre, morbid). (various references)

Greek 

φρικτόσ (appalling, atrocious, dire, direful, dismals, ghastly, hideous, horrible), φρικτός. (various references)

Hebrew 

מבעית (frightful, haggard, macabre), � תעב (abhorred, abominable, detestable, foul, hateful, loathsome, obnoxious, odious, vile). (various references)

Hungarian

szörnyû (abysmal, awful, deadly, dire, dismal, dreadful, grisly, horrible, monstrous, terrible, terrific, tremendous), szörnyű (appalling, dire, dreadful, egregious, fearsome, ghastly, grisly, horrible, horrid, morbid, nefandous, terrible, terrific), rémes (awful, fearsome, grisly, lurid), rémítő (dreadful, frightening, scary, startling), ijesztő (appalling, awful, daunting, dread, dreadful, fearsome, forbidding, grim, redoubtable, scary, startling, unearthly), hajmeresztő (hair-raising, it's enough to make your hair stand on end), hátborzongató (creepy, eerie, eery, eldritch, ghoulish, grim, grisly, macabre, morbid, uncanny, weird), borzasztó (astounding, awful, dreadful, fearsome, god-awful, horrendous, horrible, terrible, terrific, tremendous), borzalmas (awful, desperate, direful, horrid, outrageous, scary). (various references)

Icelandic

hryllilegur (abhorrent, abominable, abysmal, alarmed, alien, awful, dismayed, dreadful, dumbfounded, hideous, horrible, put out of countenance, terrible), hræðilegur (abysmal, dismal, dreadful, dreary, ghastly, hideous, horrible, nasty, terrible), andstyggilegur (abhorrent, abominable, alien, awful, hideous, horrible). (various references)

Indonesian

mengerikan (appall, bloodcurdling, excruciating, grisly, harrowing, horrible, horrid, macabre). (various references)

Italian

orribile (abhorrent, abominable, agonizing, alien, awful, beastly, dreadful, ghastly, grim, grisly, hideous, horrible, horrific, macabre, revolting, shocking), terribile (abysmal, appaling, appalling, awful, dire, direful, dreadful, fearful, fearsome, horrible, splitting, terrible, terrific, tremendous), orrendo (abhorrent, abominable, agonizing, alien, awful, dismal, dreadful, dreary, frightful, ghastly, grisly, hideous, horrendous, horrible, horrid, nasty, revolting, terrible). (various references)

Japanese Kanji 

悽絶 (extremely weird, ghastly, lurid). (various references)

Japanese Katakana 

せいぜつ (extremely, extremely weird, ghastly, lurid, violently). (various references)

Korean 

처참한 (Grewsome). (various references)

Manx

graney (bad-looking, dirty, dirty as trick, execrable, hideous, ill-favoured, lousy, nasty, objectionable, obnoxious, revolting, rotten, ugly, uncomely), arraghtagh (grotesque). (various references)

Norwegian

gyselig, skrekkelig (abysmal, dreadful, frightful, hideous, horrible, terrible), forferdelig (abysmal, alarmed, dismayed, dreadful, dumbfounded, horrible, horrifying, put out of countenance, terrible). (various references)

Papiamen

teribel (abysmal, dreadful, horrible, terrible), horibel (abysmal, dreadful, horrible, terrible), feroso (abysmal, dismal, dreadful, dreary, ghastly, hideous, horrible, nasty, terrible), feros (abysmal, dismal, dreadful, dreary, ghastly, hideous, horrible, nasty, terrible), abominabel (abhorrent, abject, abominable, abysmal, alien, awful, disdainful, disgusting, dismal, dreadful, dreary, ghastly, hideous, horrible, nasty, nauseous, terrible). (various references)

Pig Latin

uesomegray.(various references)

Polish

straszny (abysmal, dreadful, horrible, terrible), okropny (abysmal, dreadful, horrible, terrible). (various references)

Portuguese

terr�vel (grisly, hideous, horrid), terrível (abysmal, awesome, awful, deadly, desperate, dire, direful, dread, dreadful, eldritch, fearful, fearsome, fell, frightful, horrible, lurid, parlous, redoubtable, redoubted, terrible, terrific, tragic, tremendous, ungodly), repugnante (abhorrent, abominable, alien, awful, brackish, carrion, disgusting, forbidding, grievous, hideous, horrible, horrid, loathful, loathsome, nauseous, offensive, repellent, repugnant, repulsive, revolting, sickening, unsavory, unsavoury), pavoroso (awesome, dread, ghastly), macabro (ghoulish, grisly, macabre), horr�vel (grisly, hideous, horrible, horrid, horrific), horrendo (dire, dismal, dreary, hair-raising, heinous, horrible, nasty), horrível (abysmal, awful, direful, dismal, dread, dreadful, dreary, ghastly, horrible, nasty, terrible, unholy), �spero (gruff, hackly, hard, harsh, hirsute, hoarse, horrent, inclement), arrepiante (creepy, eery), abominável (abhorrent, abominable, accursed, accurst, alien, atrocious, awful, dismal, dreary, foul, hideous, horrible, nasty, nefarious, odious). (various references)

Romanian

groaznic (appalling, awful, awfully, baleful, desperate, dire, dreadful, foul, frightful, ghastly, grim, groovy, horrendous, horrent, horrible, horribly, horrid, howling, lousy, miserable, miserably, monstrous, sad, scary, shocking, terrible, terribly, vile), revoltãtor (outrageously, revolting, shocking, shockingly, sickening), oribil (abominable, detestable, hideous, hideously, horrible, horribly, horrid, horrific, monstrous), macabru (grim, groovy, macabre), înfiorãtor (awful, awfully, creepy, dread, dreadful, dreadfully, foully, terrible). (various references)

Russian 

ужасный (appalling, atrocious, awful, blood-curding, chilling, chronic, damnable, damned, desperate, dire, direful, dreadful, fearful, formidable, frightful, ghastly, grisly, gruelling, hair raising, hair-raising, hairy, heinous, horrendous, horrible, horrid, macabre, perishing, spooky, terrible, tragic, unearthy), отвратительный (abhorrent, abominable, crummy, cursed, damned, detestable, disgustful, disgusting, evolving, execrable, filthy, foul, fulsome, ghoulish, hateful, heinous, hideous, loathsome, morbid, nameless, nasty, nauseous, obnoxious, poisonous, rank, repugnant, revolting, sickening, stinking, unsavory, unsavoury, vile), жуткий (eerie, eery, eldritch, ghastly, ghoulish, grim, grisly, macabre, scary, spooky, terrible, terrifying, uncanny). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian

jeziv (bloodcurdling, creepy, eerie, horrible, lurid, macabre). (various references)

Spanish

horrible (abhorrent, abominable, agonizing, alien, appalling, awful, bleak, dire, direful, dirty, dismal, dread, dreary, evil, formidably, foul, frightful, ghastly, grim, grisly, hellish, hideous, horrible, horrid, lousy, lurid, moldy, mouldy, nasty, shocking, stinking, terrible, terror, vile, wicked), horroroso (abhorrent, abominable, agonizing, alien, awful, dismal, dreadful, dreary, ghastly, harrowing, hideous, horrible, horrid, horrifying, nasty, wicked), abominable (abhorrent, abominable, abominably, alien, awful, damnably, detestable, hideous, horrible, infamous, rotten, ugly, undelightful, unspeakable). (various references)

Swedish

hemsk (abysmal, agonizing, alarmed, atrocious, awful, bloodcurdling, creepy, dire, dismal, dismayed, dreadful, dreary, dumbfounded, eerie, eery, fell, frantic, frightful, ghastly, ghoulish, grisly, hair raising, harrowing, hideous, horrible, horrid, horrific, lurid, put out of countenance, terrible, terrific, uncanny, weird, wicked). (various references)

Thai

น่ากลัว (awful, eerie, fearsome, hideous, horrendous, horrid, horrific). (various references)

Turkish

korkunç (appalling, awesome, awful, cruel, desperate, dire, direful, disastrous, disgusting, dreadfull, eldritch, fearful, fearsome, formidable, frightening, frightful, ghastly, ghoulish, gory, grim, grisly, haircurling, hair-raiser, hellish, hideous, horrendous, horrible, horrid, horrific, lurid, monstrous, redoubtable, scary, shocking, sickening, terrible, terrific, terrifying), dehşet verici (appalling, awesome, frightening, grisly, horror), ürkütücü (basilisk, crawly, eerie, eery, frightening, macabre, parlous, scary, spine-chilling, startling). (various references)

Ukrainian

жахливий (abominable, abysmal, almighty, appalling, atrocious, awesome, awful, blinking, blood-curdling, blue, chronic, damnable, damned, deadly, desperate, deuced, devilish, dire, direful, dreadful, eerie, eery, eldritch, enormous, fearful, fearsome, ferocious, flagrant, frightening, frightful, grievous, horrible, horrific, iniquitous, macabre, monstrous, plaguy, scarey, scary, towering, tragic, tremendous, ungodly, wretched). (various references)

Vietnamese 

ghê gớm (burning, desperate, fearful, formidable, mortally, obscene, plaguy, precious, preciously, terrible, thundering, tremendous, woefully), khủng khiếp ghê tởm. (various references)

Yucatec

hach k'as (abysmal, dangerous, dreadful, horrible, terrible). (various references)

abominabilis, atrox, aversabilis. (various references)

gruen. (various references)

Derivations

Words beginning with "gruesome": gruesomely, gruesomeness, gruesomenesses, gruesomer, gruesomest. (additional references)

Misspellings

"Gruesome" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Agrosoke, Greensomes, greusome, gruesom, gruesomest, grusome, ruesome. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

-1 letter: grumose, morgues.

-2 letters: erugos, grouse, grumes, merges, morgue, mouser, resume, rogues, rouges, rugose, ugsome.

-3 letters: egers, emeus, erose, erugo, euros, germs, geums, goers, gores, gorse, grees, grues, grume, meous, meres, merge, mores, morse, moues, mouse, mures, muser, ogees, ogres, omers, reges, reuse, rogue, roues, rouge, rouse, segue, serge, serum, surge, urges.

-4 letters: eger, egos.

+1 letter: gruesomer.

+2 letters: glomerules, gruesomely, gruesomest.

+3 letters: monseigneur.

+4 letters: chemosurgery, gruesomeness, heterogamous, numerologies.

+5 letters: counterimages, demagogueries, prolegomenous, semireligious, subgovernment, tumorigeneses, tumorigenesis.