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
Questions about the singer’s connection to Hernandez’s grisly end have swirled since last summer, ever since her badly decomposed and dismembered body was found in the trunk of a Tesla linked to Burke.
—
James Queally, Los Angeles Times, 12 May 2026
When a grisly death occurs inside their exclusive Upper West Side apartment building, the trio suspects murder and employs their knowledge of true crime to investigate the truth.
—Rosy Cordero, Deadline, 7 May 2026
In his own statement, Steinfeld said Celeste’s parents, brother, and sister were left devastated by the flood of grisly details revealed by prosecutors in a court filing Wednesday.
—Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 1 May 2026
The autopsies of Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner have not yet been completed, stalling the criminal case against their son Nick, who is charged in the couple’s grisly December 2025 deaths.
—Jami Ganz, New York Daily News, 29 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for grisly
James Queally, Los Angeles Times, 12 May 2026
When a grisly death occurs inside their exclusive Upper West Side apartment building, the trio suspects murder and employs their knowledge of true crime to investigate the truth.
—Rosy Cordero, Deadline, 7 May 2026
In his own statement, Steinfeld said Celeste’s parents, brother, and sister were left devastated by the flood of grisly details revealed by prosecutors in a court filing Wednesday.
—Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 1 May 2026
The autopsies of Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner have not yet been completed, stalling the criminal case against their son Nick, who is charged in the couple’s grisly December 2025 deaths.
—Jami Ganz, New York Daily News, 29 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for grisly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for grisly
Adjective
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With Chubb and Phillips still on the mend from gruesome injuries the year prior, the then-rookie was thought to be the heir apparent.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
28 May 2026
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The case has been widely reported by China’s heavily state censored media for the gruesome details of how Xu plotted the murder.—
Sylvie Zhuang,
CNN Money,
28 May 2026
Adjective
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In 1984, following Operation Blue Star, the assassination of India's prime minister by her Sikh bodyguard triggered horrific mob violence that killed thousands of Sikhs across the country, pushing many more to flee.—
Akash Pamarthy,
NPR,
6 June 2026
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In this true crime documentary, Emmy-winning filmmaker Liz Garbus and her team examine the timeline leading up to the horrific incident, offering a different explanation behind one of New York's worst motor vehicle accidents.—
James Mercadante,
Entertainment Weekly,
4 June 2026
Adjective
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Where the movie’s true eccentricity comes in is in its combination of breezy comedy with shocking brutality and gore, perhaps most exemplified in an oddly casual moment in a morgue where Seagal and Wayans find a clue in the form of a serial number on a dead woman’s breast implant.—
Jim Hemphill,
IndieWire,
5 June 2026
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Crayton said that the decision to allow Alabama to ignore the lower court’s ruling was shocking.—
Adam Serwer,
The Atlantic,
5 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Grisly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/grisly. Accessed 11 Jun. 2026.
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