GRISLY Synonyms: 81 Similar and Opposite Words

Q: How is the word 'grisly' different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of grisly are ghastly , gruesome , lurid , and macabre . While all these words mean "horrifying and repellent in appearance or aspect," grisly and gruesome suggest additionally the results of extreme violence or cruelty. // an unusually grisly murder // suffered a gruesome death

Q: When is 'ghastly' a more appropriate choice than 'grisly'?

Although the words ghastly and grisly have much in common, ghastly suggests the terrifying aspects of corpses and ghosts. // a ghastly accident

Q: How do 'lurid' and 'gruesome' relate to one another, in the sense of 'grisly'?

Lurid adds to gruesome the suggestion of shuddering fascination with violent death and especially with murder. // the lurid details of a crime

Q: When might 'macabre' be a better fit than 'grisly'?

While the synonyms macabre and grisly are close in meaning, macabre implies a morbid preoccupation with the physical aspects of death. // a macabre tale of premature burial

grisly

adjective

ˈgriz-lē

Definition of grisly next

as in gruesome

extremely disturbing or repellent the police report described the murder scene in grisly detail

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How is the word grisly different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of grisly are ghastly, gruesome, lurid, and macabre. While all these words mean "horrifying and repellent in appearance or aspect," grisly and gruesome suggest additionally the results of extreme violence or cruelty.

an unusually grisly murder

suffered a gruesome death

When is ghastly a more appropriate choice than grisly?

Although the words ghastly and grisly have much in common, ghastly suggests the terrifying aspects of corpses and ghosts.

a ghastly accident

How do lurid and gruesome relate to one another, in the sense of grisly?

Lurid adds to gruesome the suggestion of shuddering fascination with violent death and especially with murder.

the lurid details of a crime

When might macabre be a better fit than grisly?

While the synonyms macabre and grisly are close in meaning, macabre implies a morbid preoccupation with the physical aspects of death.

a macabre tale of premature burial

Examples Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of grisly Attacks in the American homeland by those harboring radical Islamist sympathies have happened sporadically, with grisly results, for years — though the extent to which they can be attributed to any specific U.S. president or policy is far more questionable. —

Niall Stanage, The Hill, 3 Jan. 2025 Goosebumps has had the actor immerse himself in a menacing world teaming with grisly disappearances, murderously sentient plant life, and unspeakable family tragedy. —

Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 2 Jan. 2025 Even soldiers who had yet to see firsthand the hunter-quadcopter’s grisly effects had witnessed onscreen an uncountable number of peers die from the attacks, brought to them by the messaging app Telegram. —

C.j. Chivers Robert Fass Krish Seenivasan Steven Szczesniak, New York Times, 31 Dec. 2024 But a few half-decent fights, some grisly deaths and one brave monkey does not a good movie make. —

Erik Kain, Forbes, 27 Nov. 2024 See all Example Sentences for grisly

Recent Examples of Synonyms for grisly

Adjective

Ten people were murdered in the New York City subway system last year — including the recent, random and gruesome immolation of a homeless New Jersey woman asleep on a Brooklyn train — up from five murders in 2023.

Evan Simko-Bednarski, New York Daily News, 16 Jan. 2025
Did Hawthorne base these characters on the Rev. Ephraim Avery and his young congregant Sarah Maria Cornell, whose gruesome death in 1832 in Fall River, 50 miles south of Boston, shocked all of New England?

Liesl Schillinger, New York Times, 10 Jan. 2025