Shockingly repellent; inspiring horror. Synonyms: ghastly, grim, grisly, gruesome, sick. "The grim aftermath of the bombing" , "The grim task of burying the victims" , "A grisly murder" , "Gruesome evidence of human sacrifice" , "Macabre tales of war and plague in the Middle ages" , "Macabre tortures conceived by madmen"