grisly

adjective

gris·​ly ˈgriz-lē 

grislier; grisliest

1

: inspiring horror or intense fear

houses that were dark and grisly under the blank, cold sky

—D. H. Lawrence

2

: inspiring disgust or distaste

a grisly account of the fire

grisliness noun

Did you know?

An angry grizzly bear could certainly inspire fear, so grizzly and grisly must be related, right? Grizzly comes from the Middle English adjective grisel, meaning "gray." Like its close relative grizzled, grizzly means "sprinkled or streaked with gray." In other words, the grizzly bear got its name because the hairs of its brownish to buff coat usually have silver or pale tips, creating a grizzled effect, not because it causes terror. Grisly is related to Old English grislic, which comes from a verb meaning "to fear" and which gives grisly its "terrifying" sense.

Synonyms

• appalling
• atrocious
• awful
• dreadful
• frightful
• ghastly
• gruesome
• grewsome
• hideous
• horrendous
• horrible
• horrid
• horrific
• horrifying
• lurid
• macabre
• monstrous
• nightmare
• nightmarish
• shocking
• terrible
• terrific

Choose the Right Synonym for grisly

ghastly, grisly, gruesome, macabre, lurid mean horrifying and repellent in appearance or aspect.

ghastly suggests the terrifying aspects of corpses and ghosts.

a ghastly accident

grisly and gruesome suggest additionally the results of extreme violence or cruelty.

an unusually grisly murder

suffered a gruesome death

macabre implies a morbid preoccupation with the physical aspects of death.

a macabre tale of premature burial

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

the lurid details of a crime

Examples of grisly in a Sentence

The jurors saw grisly photos of the crime scene.

the police report described the murder scene in grisly detail

Recent Examples on the Web

Some platforms tend to remove the grisliest content, and some ban a few cartels outright. —Antón Barba-Kay, The Atlantic, 26 Apr. 2025

After hatching, the tiny insects live almost their entire lives in the web of a single spider, eating any weakened or recently deceased insects that have been caught by their host – all while adorned in a grisly collection of body parts. —Elizabeth Weise, USA Today, 25 Apr. 2025

The civil war in Sudan, between the government’s SAF and the rebel Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has just passed its grisly second anniversary. —Paul Tilsley, FOXNews.com, 24 Apr. 2025

He was last seen alive on Feb. 28, about seven weeks before the grisly discovery was made. —Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News, 24 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Old English grislic, from gris- (akin to Old English āgrīsan to fear); akin to Old High German grīsenlīh terrible

First Known Use

12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for grisly

• grizzly

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Kids Definition

grisly

adjective

gris·​ly ˈgriz-lē 

grislier; grisliest

: horrible, gruesome

a grisly description of the fire

grisliness noun