gruesome
grue·some/ˈɡɹusəm/adjective
gruesome is spelled G-R-U-E-S-O-M-E: 8 letters and 2 syllables (grue·some). It appears 1.9 times per million words in written English, the 20,356th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, gruesome means “Repellently frightful and shocking; ghastly, horrific” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in gruesome?
| Letters | 8: G-R-U-E-S-O-M-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: grue·some |
| In writing | 1.9 times per million words; the 20,356th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is gruesome?
Gruesome appears 1.9 times per million words in written English, the 20,356th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce gruesome?
- UK /ˈɡɹuːsəm/
- UK /ˈɡɹuːsm̩/
- US /ˈɡɹusəm/
Gruesome has 2 syllables, split grue·some in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-gruesome.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of gruesome
- gruesomer comparative
- more gruesome comparative
- gruesomest superlative
- most gruesome superlative
- grewsome
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does gruesome mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Repellently frightful and shocking; ghastly, horrific.
- 2
informalAwful, terrible.
The team was so unprepared that the way it played was just gruesome.
- 3
archaicrareOf a person: filled with fear; afraid, fearful.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Gruesome in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense repellently frightful and shocking – see also ghastly, horrific:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | horrible |
| German | grauenhaft, grauenvoll |
| Portuguese | medonho, horrendo, pavoroso |
| Spanish | espantoso, horripilante, truculento |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does gruesome come from?
From grue (“(archaic except Northern England, Scotland) to be frightened; to shudder with fear”) + -some (suffix meaning ‘characterized by some specific condition or quality, usually to a considerable degree’ forming adjectives and nouns), probably popularized by the Scottish novelist and poet Walter Scott (1771–1832): see, for example, the 1816 quotation.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).