different between gruesome vs eerie

English

Etymology

From grue (“to shudder”) +? -some. Compare Danish and Norwegian grusom (“horrible”), German grausam (“cruel”), and Dutch gruwzaam (“gruesome; cruel”).

Adjective

gruesome (comparative gruesomer or more gruesome, superlative gruesomest or most gruesome)

1. Repellently frightful and shocking; horrific or ghastly.
   • 1912: Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes, Chapter 6

     In the middle of the floor lay a skeleton, every vestige of flesh gone from the bones to which still clung the mildewed and moldered remnants of what had once been clothing. Upon the bed lay a similar gruesome thing, but smaller, while in a tiny cradle near-by was a third, a wee mite of a skeleton.

Translations

English

Alternative forms

• eery

Etymology

From Middle English eri (“fearful”), from Old English earg (“cowardly, fearful”), from Proto-Germanic *argaz. Akin to Scots ergh, argh from the same Old English source. Doublet of argh.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /???i/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /????i/
• Rhymes: -??ri
• Homophone: Erie

Adjective

eerie (comparative eerier, superlative eeriest)

1. Strange, weird, fear-inspiring.

   Synonyms: creepy, spooky
2. (Scotland) Frightened, timid.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:strange

Derived terms

• eerily (adverb)
• eeriness (noun)
• eerisome

Translations