Definition 1: Gruesome, dreadful, causing horror or terror.

Usage 1: Today's adjective may be compared: "grislier," "grisliest," and it has a noun, "grisliness." Since the suffix -ly is never doubled, there is no adverb; terrible things may only be carried out in a grisly manner or fashion. Do not confuse today's word with "grizzly," which simply means "gray" (or, as our British readers would prefer, "grey"). "Grizzly" also refers to a species of large bears that inhabit the northerly climes of North America.

Suggested usage: "Grisly" is applied only to the most horrible of acts. Murders may be grisly, as may particularly horrifying attacks: "The hungry grizzly bear left a grisly scene in the cabin." Use it metaphorically? Of course, you may: "Lola served a grisly dish consisting of innards stuffed inside innards that took away everyone's appetite for several days." (No, it was even worse than haggis.)

Etymology: Today's word is curiously associated with a word that is almost an antonym: "Christ." Both words devolved from Proto-Indo-European *ghrei- "to rub, smear." Today's word descends directly from Old English grislic "terrifying" from Germanic *gris- "to frighten," probably from the sense of "to grate on the mind." Another relative, "grime" is related to the sense of "to smear," which is also probably behind French grimer "to put on makeup," origin of the Russian noun grim "stage makeup." The sense of "smear" is not far from that of "anoint," the meaning of Greek "khrein," whose past passive participle is khristos "anointed." This word is often used in translating the New Testament references to Jesus, Greek Khristos "the anointed one." (Our thanks today to Al Crabb for bringing to our attention the ironic etymological paths connecting "grisly," "grime," and "Christ.")