gruesome
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gruesome
- /ˈɡɹuːsəm/ UK
- /ˈɡɹuːsm̩/ UK
- /ˈɡɹusəm/ US
Rhymes with -uːsəm
Where it comes from
From grue (“(archaic except Northern England, Scotland) to be frightened; to shudder with fear”) + -some (suffix meaning ‘characterized by some specific condition or quality, usually to a considerable degree’ forming adjectives and nouns), probably popularized by the Scottish novelist and poet Walter Scott (1771–1832): see, for example, the 1816 quotation.
cognates
* Danish grusom (“cruel; horrible”)
* Middle Dutch grousaem, grusaem (modern Dutch gruwzaam (“cruel; gruesome”))
* Middle High German grûsam, grûwesam (modern German grausam (“cruel”))
* Norwegian Bokmål grusom (“cruel; horrible”)
adjective gruesomer · more gruesome · gruesomest · most gruesome · grewsome
-
Repellently frightful and shocking; ghastly, horrific.
He taks a ſvvirlie, auld moſs-oak, / For ſome black, grouſome Carlin; […]
Similar: grisly, horrible, affreux, alarming, spine-tingling, appalling, awful, eldritch, buggish, butt-clenching, buttock-clenching, dismayful · Opposite: ungruesome
-
Awful, terrible.
The team was so unprepared that the way it played was just gruesome.
Similar: abysmal, atrocious, awful, bad, chronic, coarse, corny, crap, crapalicious, crappy, crummy, deityforsaken · Opposite: acceptable, agreeable, all right, amazing, as fine as Dick's hatband, awesome, beatific, bene, blissful, bodacious, bona, brilliant
-
Of a person: filled with fear; afraid, fearful.
Then says I to myself,—"John Ridd, these trees, and pools, and lonesome rocks, and setting of the sunlight, are making a gruesome coward of thee. Shall I go back to my mother so, and be called her fearless boy?"
Similar: afeared, afraid, alarmed, anxious, apprehensive, chicken, concerned, creeped out, fearful, frightened, frit, horrified · Opposite: unafraid, unruffled, unterrified
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: grisly, ghastly, grim, macabre, alarming, lurid, horrific, horrifying, appalling, horrible, dreadful, monstrous, ghoulish, harsh, atrocious, terrible
Translations
Every language
adj repellently frightful and shocking — see also ghastly, horrific
| Español | espantoso, horripilante, truculento |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 身の毛もよだつ minokemoyodatsu |
| 中文 | 可怕 kěpà, 恐怖 kǒngbù |
| Português | medonho, horrendo, pavoroso |
| Français | horrible |
| Deutsch | grauenhaft, grauenvoll |
| Italiano | orribile, raccapricciante |
| Ελληνικά | απαίσιος apaísios, φρικτός friktós |
| Română | groaznic |
| Русский | омерзи́тельный omerzítelʹnyj, отврати́тельный otvratítelʹnyj, ужа́сный užásnyj |
| العربية | مُرَوِّع murawwiʕ |
Talk about this word "gruesome." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/gruesome. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. gruesome. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/gruesome "gruesome." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/gruesome.Cite this
@misc{gruesome_2026,
title = {gruesome},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/gruesome},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
