ghoulishadj.
/ˈɡuːlɪʃ/, U.S. /ˈɡulɪʃ/ 1. Of the nature of, resembling, or characteristic of a ghoul.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > evil spirit or demon > [adjective] > ghoulish
ghoul-like1826
ghoulish1840
ghoulish-looking1875
1840 T. Hood in New Monthly Mag. Aug. 529 The spirit of the place..Turns fell hyæna of the Ghoulish race?
1896 Argosy Feb. 429/2 Outlined against the pale horizon, stood a great, gaunt hyena, a ghoulish scavenger of the desert.
1991 Photo Answers June 83/2 Bounce flash is extremely effective in reducing the ghoulish red-eye and cutting down on the harsh shadows connected with direct flash.
2011 T. Macaulay Paperboy xvi. 230 My upper canines..kept growing further and further downwards. To my horror, I realised that I was developing fangs! It was ghoulish—I was beginning to look like Dracula.
2. figurative. Characterized by an excessive fascination with death, disaster, misfortune, etc.; morbid, macabre.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [adjective] > relating to or having irrational love or desire
hydromaniacal1855
ghoulish1862
dipsomaniacal1865
dipso1880
dipsomaniac1896
urolagnic1906
hippomanic1963
the mind > emotion > fear > quality of inspiring fear > quality of being horrible > [adjective] > (of theatrical productions) gruesome
ghoulish1862
macaberesque1876
macabre1889
Grand Guignol1907
black1961
1862 Columbia (Pa.) Spy 13 Dec. The two other pleasant fellows bristled up with a ghoulish expectation.
1899 J. de Olivares Our Islands & their People II. xx. 442 Accompanied by the resident physician, we go together through the building with the ghoulish crowd at our heels.
1944 H. L. Seth Jawaharlal Nehru iv. 79 He used to drop bombs among Abyssinian tribesmen..to enjoy their being blown to bits. In Spain he repeated the same ghoullish tricks.
2014 Church Times 30 May 16/5 Three of us are planning a reunion—partly out of a ghoulish interest in seeing how age has wearied us and the years condemned.
Compounds
ghoulish-looking adj. resembling a ghoul in appearance.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > evil spirit or demon > [adjective] > ghoulish
ghoul-like1826
ghoulish1840
ghoulish-looking1875
1875 Cincinnati Commerc. 22 Aug. 3/3 A ghoulish-looking little woman without any nose.
1961 Theatre Arts Apr. 20/1 Way-out esprèsso palaces where ghoulish-looking girls serve exotically spiced coffee at exotically spiced prices.
2020 Pittsburgh Post-Gaz. (Nexis) 29 Apr. c1 He landed the role of Fester, the ghoulish-looking, sweet-natured brother of patriarch Gomez Addams.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2021; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1840