grue

[ groo ]

verb (used without object)

, Chiefly Scot.

, grued, gru·ing.

1. to shudder.

grue

/ ɡruː /

noun

1. a shiver or shudder; a creeping of the flesh

verb

1. to shiver or shudder
2. to feel strong aversion

Word History and Origins

Origin of grue¹

Middle English word dating back to 1275–1325

Word History and Origins

Origin of grue¹

C14: of Scandinavian origin; compare Old Swedish grua, Old Danish grue; related to German graven, Dutch gruwen to abhor

Example Sentences

In some languages, like old Welsh for example, there’s no distinction made between blue and green—they both fall into a kind of “grue” category.

From Scientific American

I’ll be reading Grue’s memoir to try to understand disability better, in large part due to Fox’s thoughtful — and thought-provoking — words.

From New York Times

It also struck me that Grue suffers from spinal muscular atrophy; someone close to me discovered when she was pregnant that she had the gene for that condition.

From New York Times

Now, he and his colleagues have found evidence for an unexpected answer: People with more exposure to sunlight are more likely to speak languages that lump green and blue together, under a term that linguists dub “grue.”

From Science Magazine

Taking the title of Jan Grue’s memoir, “I Live a Life Like Yours,” literally, I approached it first by creating a mental Venn diagram, testing the veracity of his titular statement.

From New York Times