Meaning & use
gruesome
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Meanings
adjectivecomparable
So full of blood, injury or death that it is horrifying to see or hear about.
Grammar: Can come before a noun or after a verb: a gruesome scene; the details were gruesome.
Police found the gruesome remains in an abandoned barn.
The documentary included gruesome footage of the battlefield.
He described the accident in gruesome detail.
adjectivecomparableinformal
Extremely unpleasant or disgusting, though not always violent.
Grammar: In casual speech it can be exaggerated: a gruesome smell.
The fridge held a gruesome mess of rotten leftovers.
We had to clean the gruesome bathroom before the inspection.
That gruesome green sauce put everyone off dinner.
Word forms
| comparative | gruesomer |
|---|---|
| superlative | gruesomest |
Common combinations
- gruesome discovery
- Hikers made a gruesome discovery near the river.
- gruesome details
- The witness spared the jury none of the gruesome details.
- gruesome murder
- The novel opens with a gruesome murder in a quiet village.
- gruesome sight
- The flooded cellar was a gruesome sight.
- gruesome tale
- The guide told a gruesome tale about the old prison.
Synonyms and how they differ
- grisly
- Grisly is nearly identical but is used mostly of crimes and remains, while gruesome also covers general disgust.
- ghastly
- Ghastly can mean merely awful or pale, so it is broader and often milder than gruesome.
- macabre
- Macabre stresses a dark fascination with death, while gruesome stresses the shock of the physical details.
- horrific
- Horrific covers any shocking event, while gruesome points to visible gore.
Opposites
Word family
- gruesomely adverb
- in a horrifying way
- gruesomeness noun
- the quality of being gruesome
Commonly confused: gruesome or gruelling?
gruesome vs gruelling
Gruelling means exhausting and demanding, like a gruelling marathon. Gruesome means horrifying or disgusting.
Practice
Which word best completes the sentence: 'The cleaner refused to enter the room because of the ___ scene inside.'?
Choose one answer.
Gruesome describes a horrifying sight. Gruelling is a tempting but wrong choice because it describes exhausting effort, not a scene.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “gruesome”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.