grisly

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 14, 2021 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>grisly</strong> &#149; \GRIZ-lee\&nbsp; &#149; <em>adjective</em><br /> <p><em>Grisly</em> means "causing horror or intense fear."</p> <p>// The movie is a <em>grisly</em> tale with gruesome special effects and terrifying monsters.</p> <p><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grisly">See the entry ></a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>"It is a national tragedy that we don't appreciate pumpkins more…. Other than carving them into ghoulish and <em>grisly</em> faces to adorn our windows, we seem to ignore them for the rest of the time they are in season." — JP McMahon, <em>The Irish Times</em>, 9 Oct. 2021</p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>An angry <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grizzly%20bear">grizzly bear</a> could certainly inspire fear, so <em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grizzly">grizzly</a></em> and <em>grisly</em> must be related, right? <em>Grizzly</em> comes from the Middle English adjective <em>grisel,</em> meaning "gray." Like its close relative <em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grizzled">grizzled</a></em>, <em>grizzly</em> means "sprinkled or streaked with gray." In other words, the grizzly bear got its name because the hairs of its brownish to buff coat usually have silver or pale tips, creating a grizzled effect, not because it causes terror. <em>Grisly</em> is related to Old English <em>grislic,</em> which comes from a verb meaning "to fear" and which gives <em>grisly</em> its "terrifying" sense.</p> <br /><br /> </p> </font>