Synonym Chooser

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

Some common synonyms of macabre are ghastly, grisly, gruesome, and lurid. While all these words mean "horrifying and repellent in appearance or aspect," macabre implies a morbid preoccupation with the physical aspects of death.

a macabre tale of premature burial

When would ghastly be a good substitute for macabre?

The synonyms ghastly and macabre are sometimes interchangeable, but ghastly suggests the terrifying aspects of corpses and ghosts.

a ghastly accident

How are the words grisly and gruesome related as synonyms of macabre?

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

an unusually grisly murder
suffered a gruesome death

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

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

the lurid details of a crime

Example 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 macabre Forced to participate in increasingly macabre rituals and tests, Giacomo is consumed by the sinister — as apparitions, ghosts and deadly rumors start to accumulate. Christian Blauvelt, IndieWire, 30 Sep. 2025 He was repulsed then, but years later, thinking about a man who’d expressed an interest in the human body in the most macabre possible way sparked something in Hunnam. Daniel D'addario, Variety, 30 Sep. 2025 The second one was macabre body horror, a hospital setting, but actually, we were tasked with putting it in that section. Bethy Squires, Vulture, 22 Aug. 2025 There are more macabre things that could go wrong, too. Niall Stanage, The Hill, 9 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for macabre
Recent Examples of Synonyms for macabre
Adjective
  • Since then, there’s been little doubt about who police believe is responsible for the 12-year-old schoolgirl’s gruesome death.
    Sean Neumann, PEOPLE, 17 Oct. 2025
  • Cultures around the world have ancient traditions of narrating events, sometimes gruesome, through song.
    John Metcalfe, Mercury News, 16 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • The tragedy in question is no secret — Chris and Jenny are killed together in a horrific car accident, which inspires all sorts of awful questions — and the fallout is mostly predictable.
    Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 22 Oct. 2025
  • How the stakeholders juggled those diametrically opposed ideas—liberty and self-governance but also slavery and their horrific treatment of the Native American population—is the part of the human experience that Burns is most interested in exploring.
    Carlo Versano, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • The shocking New York City murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December 2024 was followed by a July Midtown Manhattan shooting that claimed the lives of two security guards and two executives at Blackstone and Rudin Management.
    Amanda Gerut, Fortune, 21 Oct. 2025
  • At some hibernation sites, a shocking 90 to 100 percent of bats have died, and there currently is no cure.
    Arricca Elin SanSone, Southern Living, 21 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • That alone would be nightmare enough, but this debate has been constructed and is moderated by Sam Reich.
    Nic Juarez, Vulture, 14 Aug. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Macabre.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/macabre. Accessed 24 Oct. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on macabre

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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