1
: resembling, suggesting, or appropriate to a ghoul
a ghoulish appearance
I knew not at what moment I might plunge headlong into some terrible pit or meet with some of the ghoulish creatures that inhabit these lower worlds …—
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edgar Rice BurroughsMany of their sculptures depict the ghoulish spirits … and their paternal leader, Baron Samedi, the lord of death, decay and grotesque eroticism.—Holland Cotter
Holland Cotter2
: relating to, dealing with, or morbidly delighting in things considered shocking or gruesome
ghoulish thoughts
ghoulish humor
… the grieving family asked for his help in a rather ghoulish affair.—Behn Cervantes
Behn Cervantes… his photographs present the aftermath of battles somewhat in the manner of ghoulish still lifes …—Naomi Rosenblum
Naomi RosenblumAnnie was a fine, strapping girl, and was evidently labouring under intense excitement, mingled with a certain ghoulish enjoyment of the tragedy.—Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie… he offers the reader a deliciously ghoulish potted history of absurd burial techniques.—Lawrence Osborne
Lawrence Osborne
ghoulishly
adverb
laughing ghoulishly
Lurid, violent, … morbidly sentimental and ghoulishly capricious, this is the kind of painting which grabs the modern imagination for the most dubious of reasons.
—Jonathan Keates
Jonathan Keates
ghoulishness
noun
… a zany cross between wild farce and macabre ghoulishness …
—John Percival
John Percival
Examples of ghoulish in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Politics Trump officials’ defiance over Abrego Garcia’s deportation is ‘shocking,’ appeals court says
April 17, 2025
His underlings ape his ghoulish glee in making life miserable for undocumented immigrants.
—Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 19 Apr. 2025
Banning access to the ghoulish inner guts of the wreck, as well as recovering objects to study, to many, is bizarre.
—Sean Kingsley, HollywoodReporter, 11 Apr. 2025
The team’s last three regular-seasons have been ghoulish: 27-55, 21-61 and now 19-59.
—Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 7 Apr. 2025
The official White House Twitter account is doing something, well, ghoulish and inexplicable.
—Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 27 Mar. 2025
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Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 19 Apr. 2025
Banning access to the ghoulish inner guts of the wreck, as well as recovering objects to study, to many, is bizarre.
—Sean Kingsley, HollywoodReporter, 11 Apr. 2025
The team’s last three regular-seasons have been ghoulish: 27-55, 21-61 and now 19-59.
—Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 7 Apr. 2025
The official White House Twitter account is doing something, well, ghoulish and inexplicable.
—Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 27 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ghoulish
Cite this Entry
“Ghoulish.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ghoulish. Accessed 25 Apr. 2025.
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