grisly: [OE] Middle English had a verb grise ‘be terrified’, which points back via an unrecorded Old English *grīsan to a West Germanic *grīdenoting ‘fear, terror’, from which grisly would have been formed. Dutch has the parallel formation grijzelijk. In 1900, the Oxford English Dictionary described grisly as ‘now only arch and lit’, but since then its fortunes have recovered strongly, and it is now firmly part of the general language.
grisly (adj.)
Old English grislic (in compounds) "horrible, dreadful," from root of grisan "to shudder, fear," a general Germanic word (cognates: Old Frisian grislik "horrible," Middle Dutch grisen "to shudder," Dutch griezelen, German grausen "to shudder, fear," Old High German grisenlik "horrible;" of unknown origin; Watkins connects it with the PIE root *ghrei- "to rub," on notion of "to grate on the mind" (see chrism). See also gruesome, to which it probably is connected in some way. Related: Grisliness.
双语例句
1. Robbing graves is grisly.
盗墓是可怕的.
来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
2. But everybody was talking, and intent upon the grisly spectacle before them.
可是大家都在谈话, 一心关注的是眼前的这个惨状.
来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险
3. If anybody spoke of that grisly matter, I was all ears in a moment.
如果谁谈起那件可怕的事情, 我马上就会聚精会神地听起来.
来自辞典例句
4. EXMP: Houses were dark and grisly under the blank, cold sky.
在空寂寒冷的天空下, 房屋显得模糊而恐怖.
来自互联网
5. Vladimir did not fail, but success a grisly surprise.