ghoulish

adjective

ghoul·​ish ˈgü-lish How to pronounce ghoulish (audio)
1
: resembling, suggesting, or appropriate to a ghoul
a ghoulish appearance
I knew not at what moment I might plunge headlong into some terrible pit or meet with some of the ghoulish creatures that inhabit these lower worlds …Edgar Rice Burroughs
Many of their sculptures depict the ghoulish spirits … and their paternal leader, Baron Samedi, the lord of death, decay and grotesque eroticism.Holland Cotter
2
: relating to, dealing with, or morbidly delighting in things considered shocking or gruesome
ghoulish thoughts
ghoulish humor
… the grieving family asked for his help in a rather ghoulish affair.Behn Cervantes
… his photographs present the aftermath of battles somewhat in the manner of ghoulish still lifes …Naomi Rosenblum
Annie was a fine, strapping girl, and was evidently labouring under intense excitement, mingled with a certain ghoulish enjoyment of the tragedy.Agatha Christie
… he offers the reader a deliciously ghoulish potted history of absurd burial techniques.Lawrence Osborne
ghoulishly adverb
laughing ghoulishly
Lurid, violent, … morbidly sentimental and ghoulishly capricious, this is the kind of painting which grabs the modern imagination for the most dubious of reasons. Jonathan Keates
ghoulishness noun
… a zany cross between wild farce and macabre ghoulishness John Percival

Examples of ghoulish in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The Original Ghost Tour, started in 1996 by Key West writer David Sloan, makes about 11 stops at places rich in the island city’s paranormal and ghoulish h istory. Miami Staff, Miami Herald, 30 Jan. 2024 Victoria's ghoulish parents (Albert Finney and Joanna Lumley) have organized the union for not entirely altruistic reasons. Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 31 Oct. 2023 The juxtaposition of a real mother mourning her dead son with these ghoulish and fanciful vignettes is obscene — and that seems to be Painkiller's point. Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, 10 Aug. 2023 The cast was split about fifty-fifty on why they were drawn to the project— some intrigued by the star power in the directing and writing team of Soderbergh and David Koepp, others by the ghoulish topic alone. Vulture, 20 Jan. 2024 The Klan and its ghoulish doings were greatly diminished, but the hate endured. Daniel Foster, National Review, 30 Nov. 2023 McGuire goes back to the same well several times – glimpses of apparitions at the pool’s edge, dark, blood-like sludge surging from beneath, ghoulish boogeymen (and boogeywomen) popping into the frame. Chris Vognar, Rolling Stone, 5 Jan. 2024 When this year’s low-budget horror romp Mickey’s Mouse Trap debuts, featuring a ghoulish killer in the form of the beloved children’s character, Disney CEO Bob Iger will be powerless to stop it. Christiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 4 Jan. 2024 Alex’s ghoulish potential rarely blossoms forth as full-fledged sociopathy. Katy Waldman, The New Yorker, 29 Dec. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ghoulish.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1835, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of ghoulish was in 1835

Dictionary Entries Near ghoulish

Cite this Entry

“Ghoulish.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ghoulish. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

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