as in gruesome
extremely disturbing or repellent
the police report described the murder scene in grisly detail
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Recent Examples of grisly
Market hunters of later days could tell grisly stories of waterfowl mowed down en masse.
—
Nash Buckingham, Outdoor Life, 19 June 2025
Car was followed by The Hawk Is Dying (1973), The Gypsy’s Curse (1974), and A Feast of Snakes (1976), about another grisly spectacle, an annual rattlesnake-catching competition in the backwoods of Georgia.
—Charlie Lee, Harpers Magazine, 18 June 2025
The good news about season 3 taking us back in time is that many of those characters are likely to return, unaware of the grisly fates awaiting them.
—Randall Colburn, EW.com, 4 June 2025
The latest book finds Russo being called to a remote island off the coast of Ontario, where a grisly murder has taken place, according to the synopsis.
—Stephanie Guerilus, People.com, 12 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for grisly
Nash Buckingham, Outdoor Life, 19 June 2025
Car was followed by The Hawk Is Dying (1973), The Gypsy’s Curse (1974), and A Feast of Snakes (1976), about another grisly spectacle, an annual rattlesnake-catching competition in the backwoods of Georgia.
—Charlie Lee, Harpers Magazine, 18 June 2025
The good news about season 3 taking us back in time is that many of those characters are likely to return, unaware of the grisly fates awaiting them.
—Randall Colburn, EW.com, 4 June 2025
The latest book finds Russo being called to a remote island off the coast of Ontario, where a grisly murder has taken place, according to the synopsis.
—Stephanie Guerilus, People.com, 12 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for grisly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for grisly
Adjective
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Accounts of government and police repression have only gotten more gruesome, with Amnesty Kenya reporting that 16 people have been shot and killed as of June 28 and local officials claiming that hundreds have been injured (while also alleging that most of those hurt were police officers).—
Mankaprr Conteh,
Rolling Stone,
30 June 2025
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Forget turning on some gruesome horror movie: reading the daily headlines is enough to make just about anyone scream.—
Christian Allaire,
Vogue,
26 June 2025
Adjective
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Throughout the Holocaust, the Nazis concentrated European Jews in urban ghettos, which were marked by horrific living conditions, forced labor and the threat of execution.—
Tom Dreisbach,
NPR,
30 June 2025
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And that's a tough sell to a jury that spent weeks listening to horrific testimony about Diddy and his empire.—
Lauryn Overhultz,
FOXNews.com,
29 June 2025
Adjective
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All those TikToks sharing the most important news of the week, or the Instagram influencers reacting to a shocking headline, or the YouTubers making video essays analyzing current events — all of these could not exist without the labor and specialized knowledge of journalists.—
Reia Li,
AZCentral.com,
9 July 2025
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In addition to all the shocking Prime Day finds on sale now, J.Crew Factory is stepping up and dropping prices.—
Alyssa Grabinski,
People.com,
9 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Grisly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/grisly. Accessed 14 Jul. 2025.
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