ghoulish

IPA/ˈɡuːlɪʃ/
KK[ɡˈulɪʃ]IPA/ˈɡuːlɪʃ/

ghoulish — adjective

  • ghoulishpositive
  • more ghoulishcomparative
  • most ghoulishsuperlative

1. looking so pale, thin, or strange that you seem like a dead body or an evil spir

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

looking so pale, thin, or strange that you seem like a dead body or an evil spirit, making other people feel afraid.

Example

The old mask had a ghoulish face with hollow eyes and a white painted grin.

collocation: ghoulish face / ghoulish appearance

Nora's skin turned a ghoulish grey after she spent three days sick in bed.

Common collocations
  • ghoulish appearance
  • ghoulish face
  • ghoulish look
  • ghoulish figure
Synonyms
  • gruesome

    focuses on causing shock and horror, not on pale/ghostly appearance

  • macabre

    more literary and concerned with the unpleasantness of death itself

  • hideous

    describes extreme ugliness but without the death-like quality

  • ghastly

    closest synonym; also describes a pale, shocked, deathly appearance

Antonyms

Usage Note

This sense focuses on physical appearance or atmosphere. Distinguish from sense 2, which describes an unhealthy interest in unpleasant things rather than a frightening look.

Common Mistakes

The movie was ghoulish and made me jump.
The movie was terrifying and made me jump.
'ghoulish' describes a deathly, pale appearance, not a generally scary experience.
She wore a ghoulish dress to the party.
She wore a scary ghost costume to the party.
'ghoulish' is not a synonym for any scary costume; it specifically suggests a corpse-like or ghoul-like appearance.

2. showing an unnatural or unhealthy interest in death, violence, or other things t

2.adjectiveC1
Definition

showing an unnatural or unhealthy interest in death, violence, or other things that most people find shocking and upsetting.

Example

A ghoulish crowd gathered around the crash site, hoping to see blood on the road.

collocation: ghoulish crowd / ghoulish curiosity

The reporter's ghoulish questions about the victim's family made everyone in the room uncomfortable.

Common collocations
  • ghoulish curiosity
  • ghoulish interest
  • ghoulish fascination
  • ghoulish delight
  • ghoulish crowd
  • ghoulish jokes
Synonyms
  • morbid

    nearly identical; describes an unhealthy interest in death or unpleasant things

  • macabre

    emphasises the gruesome, disturbing quality of something related to death

  • gruesome

    describes the thing itself (e.g. a gruesome scene), not the person's interest

  • sick

    more informal and stronger criticism of someone's interest

Antonyms
  • respectful

    showing proper sensitivity toward death and tragedy

  • compassionate

    feeling concern for others' suffering instead of curiosity

Usage Note

Frequently used with nouns like 'curiosity', 'fascination', 'interest', and 'delight' to criticise someone's reaction to tragedy. Distinguish from sense 1, which describes a frightening appearance rather than a morbid attitude.

Common Mistakes

He has a ghoulish smile.
He has a creepy smile.
'ghoulish' in this sense refers to an interest in death/disaster, not a scary facial expression. For a scary look, use sense 1.

Word family

  • ghoul
    nounC1
  • ghoulishly
    adverbC2
  • ghoulishness
    nounC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/2

All four describe something connected with death that disturbs or offends, but they differ in focus. 'GhoulISh' specifically criticises a person's attitude or interest — it is about someone who seems to enjoy or seek out death and disaster. 'MorbId' is the closest synonym, often used for a general tendency to dwell on death ('a morbid thought'). 'MacAbre' describes the setting or atmosphere, not a person's mindset: a 'macabre story' is one with a grim, death-centred mood. 'GrueSome' describes the shocking, bloody details of the thing itself ('gruesome photos'), not the person who looks at them. 'Sick' is the most informal and the strongest moral criticism; calling someone 'sick' for their interest is a harsh judgement. In everyday use, if you want to describe someone's behaviour at a tragedy, choose 'ghoulish' or 'morbid'; if you want to describe the tragedy itself, choose 'gruesome' or 'macabre'.

morbid ↗macabre ↗gruesome ↗sick ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

  • almost ghoulish
  • slightly ghoulish
  • positively ghoulish

Phrases

  • ghoulish sense of humour
  • ghoulish pleasure in

Etymology

ArabicPersianEnglish

Comes from 'ghoul' (from Arabic 'ghūl', a desert demon that eats dead bodies), plus the suffix '-ish' meaning 'like' or 'having the quality of'. First appeared in English in the mid-1800s, originally describing something that looks like a ghoul. By the early 1900s it had developed the second meaning of having an unhealthy interest in death.

First known use

1835

1835, in the meaning defined at sense 1