# grisly

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈɡɹɪzli/ · frequency rank #39,834

## Definitions
1. Horrifyingly repellent; gruesome, terrifying.
2. Obsolete form of grizzly.
3. Misspelling of gristly.

## 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).

## Easily confused with
- **grist** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grisly-vs-grist)
- **gritty** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grisly-vs-gritty)
- **grossly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grisly-vs-grossly)
- **grizzly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grisly-vs-grizzly)
- **grill** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grill-vs-grisly)
- **girly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/girly-vs-grisly)
- **grimy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grimy-vs-grisly)
- **gilly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gilly-vs-grisly)
- **grassy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grassy-vs-grisly)
- **grille** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grille-vs-grisly)
- **grills** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grills-vs-grisly)
- **grimly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grimly-vs-grisly)
- **Grimsby** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grimsby-vs-grisly)

## Common misspellings (10)
`ggrisly`, `girsly`, `grilsy`, `grislly`, `grislyy`, `grissly`, `grisyl`, `grrisly`, `grsily`, `rgisly`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/grisly