macabre
adjective/məˈkɑːbrə/
/məˈkɑːbrə/
- unpleasant and strange because connected with death and frightening things synonym ghoulish, grisly
- a macabre tale/joke/ritual
Oxford Collocations DictionaryMacabre is used with these nouns:- tale
Word Originlate 19th cent.: from French macabre, from Danse Macabre ‘dance of death’, from Old French, perhaps from Macabé ‘a Maccabee’, with reference to a miracle play depicting the slaughter of the Maccabees.Want to learn more?
Find out which words work together and produce more natural sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app.
Check pronunciation:
macabre