ghoulish

[ goo-lish ]

adjective

1. strangely diabolical or cruel; monstrous:

   a ghoulish and questionable sense of humor.

2. showing fascination with death, disease, maiming, etc.; morbid:

   ghoulish curiosity.

3. of, relating to, or like a ghoul or ghouls.

ˈghoulish

/ ˈɡuːlɪʃ /

adjective

1. of or relating to ghouls; morbid or disgusting; unhealthily interested in death

Derived Forms

• ˈghoulishness, noun
• ˈghoulishly, adverb

Other Words From

• ghoulish·ly adverb
• ghoulish·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of ghoulish¹

First recorded in 1835–45; ghoul + -ish ¹

Example Sentences

However, at $108 per year, HereAfter services could quickly add up if you do some ghoulish back-of-the-envelope math on lifetime costs.

From MIT Technology Review

Back in Washington, the results are likely to bring their own ghoulish realities.

From Time

Assam, the setting for his ghoulish death dance on the body of a Muslim, is where this construct of the Muslim as the unwanted, dangerous outsider has been honed and mainstreamed.

From Time

So many of the disasters—and it’s hard to call them “natural disasters” anymore—are record-breaking and defying historic norms in ghoulish ways.

From Outside Online

And in the summer months, when shootings soar, the city can be a ghoulish playground for those interested in the macabre.

From The Daily Beast

Yesterday afternoon, the "NRA Women" Twitter account sent out a simple and yet ghoulish message to its followers.

From The Daily Beast

Other attempts to bring cult favorites back from the dead have had more ghoulish results.

From The Daily Beast

Typical of most old cemeteries, eerie carved-stone Angels of Death and other ghoulish figures adorn many of the tombstones.

From The Daily Beast

They cast a ghoulish light on this roughly 8-by-10-foot room, where the family of eight struggles to survive.

From The Daily Beast

Such was their appearance; mournful, ghoulish, yet human and warm in a repressed, frustrated way.

From Project Gutenberg

So he had devised a ghoulish and crafty punishment, which, the more he pondered it, the more subtle and effective did it appear.

From Project Gutenberg

To French readers this scene may seem a ghoulish farce: English humour accepts it from Norwegian humour without demur.

From Project Gutenberg

Seen as I had seen it, it was a ghoulish-looking place—as weird as a Paris catacomb—but then daylight makes all the difference.

From Project Gutenberg

So once again the phantom rider had brought its grisly message—played its ghoulish rôle.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• cruel
• demonic
• devilish
• eerie
• frightening
• ghastly
• grim
• grisly
• gruesome
• horrible
• macabre
• morbid
• spooky