macabre Hear it!

macabre definition

ma·ca·bre (mə käb′rə, mə käb′, -kä′bər)

adjective

grim and horrible; gruesome; ghastly
also macaber ma·ca′·ber (-kä′bər)

Etymology: Fr < OFr (danse) Macabré, (dance) of death, prob. altered < ML (Chorea) Machabaeorum, lit., dance of the Maccabees (see Maccabees): semantic connection obscure

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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