grisly Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. adjective satellite shockingly repellent; inspiring horror
    macabre; ghastly; sick; gruesome; grim.
    • ghastly wounds
    • the grim aftermath of the bombing
    • the grim task of burying the victims
    • a grisly murder
    • gruesome evidence of human sacrifice
    • macabre tales of war and plague in the Middle ages
    • macabre tortures conceived by madmen

WordNet

Gris"ly adjective
Etymology
OE, grisly, grislich, AS. grislic, gryslic, fr. grsan to shudder; cf. OD. grijselick horrible, OHG. grisenl?ch, and also AS. gre?san to frighten, and E. gruesome.
Definitions
  1. Frightful; horrible; dreadful; harsh; as, grisly locks; a grisly specter. "Grisly to behold." Chaucer.
    A man of grisly and stern gravity. Robynson (More's Utopia).

Webster 1913