gruesome
pronunciation
How to pronounce gruesome in British English:
UK [ˈgru:səm]
How to pronounce gruesome in American English:
US [ˈɡrusəm]
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- Adjective:
- shockingly repellent; inspiring horror
Word Origin
- gruesome
- gruesome: [16] The novels of Sir Walter Scott had an enormous influence in introducing Scotticisms into the general English language, and gruesome is a case in point. It was apparently coined in the 16th century from an earlier verb grue ‘be terrified’, which was probably of Scandinavian origin. For over 200 years it remained restricted in distribution to Scotland and northern England, but Scott started using it (‘He’s as grave and grewsome an auld Dutchman as e’er I saw’, Old Mortality 1816), immediately ensuring it an entrée into homes all over Britain thanks to Scott’s huge readership. It has never looked back.
- gruesome (adj.)
- 1560s, with -some (1) + grue, from Middle English gruen "feel horror, shudder" (c. 1300); not recorded in Old English or Norse, possibly from Middle Dutch gruwen or Middle Low German gruwen "shudder with fear" (compare German grausam "cruel"), or from a Scandinavian source (such as Danish grusom "cruel," grue "to dread," though others hold that these are Low German loan-words). One of the many Scottish words popularized in England by Scott's novels. Related: Gruesomely; gruesomeness.
Example
- 1. Killing for tusks is a particularly gruesome trade .
- 2. He was quiet , picturing gruesome possibilities .
- 3. Gruesome details about the mechanics of executions also stoke public disquiet .
- 4. Its emergence from the gruesome era of apartheid is a miracle of reconciliation .
- 5. Rumours of gruesome killings of alawites by dissidents have spread like wildfire .