D. H. Lawrence
Did you know?
An angry grizzly bear could certainly inspire fear, so grizzly and grisly must be related, right? Grizzly comes from the Middle English adjective grisel, meaning "gray." Like its close relative grizzled, grizzly means "sprinkled or streaked with gray." In other words, the grizzly bear got its name because the hairs of its brownish to buff coat usually have silver or pale tips, creating a grizzled effect, not because it causes terror. Grisly is related to Old English grislic, which comes from a verb meaning "to fear" and which gives grisly its "terrifying" sense.
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Examples of grisly in a Sentence
Tim Stelloh, NBC News, 9 Nov. 2024
For fans of either Flanagan, Edgar Allan Poe, or Succession, The Fall of the House of Usher — about a painkiller-peddling family of billionaires finally getting its grisly comeuppance — is a delightfully gnarly watch.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 30 Oct. 2024
Prosecutors alleged that the brothers had planned and carried out the grisly shootings in order to gain control of their parents' $14.5-million estate.
—Megan McCluskey, TIME, 19 Sep. 2024
Whoever witnesses the host's grisly death then becomes the Smile's next victim.
—Joey Nolfi, EW.com, 19 Oct. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Grisly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grisly. Accessed 25 Nov. 2024.
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