macabre or ma·ca·ber [ muh-kah-bruh, -kahb, -kah-ber ]
adjective
1. gruesome and horrifying; ghastly; horrible.
2. of, pertaining to, dealing with, or representing death, especially its grimmer or uglier aspect.
3. of or suggestive of the allegorical dance of death.
WORDS RELATED TO MACABRE
spooky, ghastly, ghoulish, grisly, morbid, gruesome, weird, frightening, grim, lurid, cadaverous, deathly, dreadful, frightful, ghostly, hideous, horrible, offensive, scary, terrible
See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com
Origin: 1400–50; < French; compare late Middle English Macabrees daunce < Middle French danse (de) Macabré, of uncertain origin; perhaps to be identified with Medieval Latin chorēa Machabaeōrum a representation of the deaths of Judas Maccabaeus and his brothers, but evidence is lacking; the French pronunciation with mute e is a misreading of the Middle French forms
EXAMPLE SENTENCES FROM THE WEB FOR MACABRE
You two seem to have similar artistic sensibilities, both very interested in the macabre.
TIM BURTON TALKS ‘BIG EYES,’ HIS TASTE FOR THE MACABRE, AND THE ‘BEETLEJUICE’ SEQUEL|MARLOW STERN|DECEMBER 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And in the summer months, when shootings soar, the city can be a ghoulish playground for those interested in the macabre.
CHICAGO’S REAL-LIFE 'NIGHTCRAWLER'|JUSTIN GLAWE|NOVEMBER 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Over the past few years, macabre signs of vampire burials have been unearthed across Europe and even in the United States.
BULGARIA’S VAMPIRE GRAVEYARDS|NINA STROCHLIC|OCTOBER 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The runoff has turned into a macabre political sideshow filled with grotesque attacks and ugly accusations.
MISSISSIPPI GOP PLAYS GAMES WITH BLACK VOTES|BEN JACOBS|JUNE 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Now YOU come up with a sentence (or fic? or graphic?) that best illustrates the word.