grisly
/ˈɡɹɪzli/ adjective, adverb
Also a form of gristly
Forms grislier grisliest grislies griesly grislie
- adjective Horrifyingly repellent; gruesome, terrifying. “The photographs of the killings depict a grisly scene.”
- adverb (obsolete) In a horrible or terrible manner; in a terrifying way.
Synonyms
grisy gristly grizzly affreux alarming spine-tingling appalling awful eldritch buggish butt-clenching buttock-clenching dismayful dreadful fearful flaysome flesh-crawling formidable freaky frightening ghastly grim gruesome macabre sick
Etymology
From Middle English grisely, grysly, grissliȝ, griselich, grislich, from Old English grisliċ (“grisly, horrible; dreadful, horrid”), from grīsan (“to shudder with horror; to tremble, to be terrified; to make tremble, to terrify; to agrise, grise”) (unattested but implied in āgrīsan) + -lic (suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘characteristic of, pertaining to’).
The word may also be an aphetic form of Old English ongrislic, agrisenliċ, the past participle of agrīsan (“to agrise”).
Compare Danish grusom, Swedish gräslig, Middle Dutch grezelijc (modern Dutch griezelig), Middle High German grisenlich (modern German grässlich, grausen).
From grisle (“horror, terror”) + -ly; compare Middle Dutch griselike, Middle Low German grislike.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Frightful; horrible; dreadful; harsh; as, grisly locks; a grisly specter. "Grisly to behold." Chaucer.
Etymology [OE, grisly, grislich, AS. grislic, gryslic, fr. gro shudder; cf. OD. grijselick horrible, OHG. grisenlch, and also AS. gresan to frighten, and E. gruesome.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “grisly”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details