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
Bill Hutchinson, ABC News, 30 Jan. 2025
Besides Torres-Garcia and Ocasio Justiniano, Crespo Hernandez and Dereck Rodriguez Bonilla also were named in federal indictments for taking part in the grisly killing.
—Martin E. Comas, Orlando Sentinel, 30 Jan. 2025
Very dark, as Longfellow imagines the grisly death of his dad (Day).
—Andy Hoglund, EW.com, 26 Jan. 2025
The black-and-white news footage, archived by the state, depicts a grisly scene: a bloody refrigerator door and kitchen cabinets, somber investigators and newspapers strewn across the floor to seemingly mitigate any mess.
—Sean Neumann, People.com, 25 Jan. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Grisly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grisly. Accessed 11 Feb. 2025.
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