morbid

American  

[mawr-bid] / ˈmɔr bɪd /

adjective

1. suggesting an unhealthy mental state or attitude; unwholesomely gloomy, sensitive, extreme, etc..

   a morbid interest in death.

   Antonyms:

   cheerful

2. affected by, caused by, causing, or characteristic of disease.

   Synonyms:

   sickly, sick, unhealthy, diseased, unwholesome

   Antonyms:

   healthy

3. pertaining to diseased parts.

   morbid anatomy.

4. gruesome; grisly.

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morbid British  

/ ˈmɔːbɪd /

adjective

1. having an unusual interest in death or unpleasant events

2. gruesome

3. relating to or characterized by disease; pathologic

   a morbid growth

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Other Word Forms

• morbidly adverb
• morbidness noun
• premorbid adjective
• premorbidly adverb
• premorbidness noun
• unmorbid adjective
• unmorbidly adverb
• unmorbidness noun

Etymology

Origin of morbid

First recorded in 1650–60; from Latin morbidus “sickly,” from morb(us) “disease, sickness” + -idus -id ⁴

Explanation

If the first section of the newspaper you read is the obituaries, you could be considered morbid. Morbid is a word used to describe anyone who spends too much time thinking about death or disease. A lot of English words relating to medicine and science come from Latin, and the adjective morbid is one of them; it comes from the root morbidus, meaning "diseased" or "sick." Morbid can also be used to describe other nouns besides people. If you wear Goth clothing, your wardrobe might be described as morbid. And if you hang tombstones on your walls, your taste in art could also be described as morbid.

Example Sentences

Maybe the only purpose in any of this is to prolong morbid fascinations, to twist the knife.

From Slate • Feb. 23, 2026

Generally speaking, it’s more angular, more acid, more morbid, more willing to let a protagonist stew in misery, more suspicious of sentiment than our comparatively genial homegrown brand.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 12, 2026

One of Paris's top tourist attractions -- and certainly its most morbid -- closes to visitors from Monday for six months of renovations.

From Barron's • Nov. 1, 2025

Though born in London, Shelley lived in Scotland before writing her novel and later credited the country’s bleak landscapes with giving “airy flights” to her morbid imagination.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 24, 2025

She might as well have said to the fire, “don’t burn!” but how could she divine the morbid suffering to which I was a prey?

From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë

Related Words

• ghastly
• ghoulish
• grim
• gruesome
• macabre
• melancholy
• pessimistic
• unnatural