macabrelyadv.
/məˈkɑːbrəli/, U.S. /məˈkɑbrəli/ In a macabre or gruesome manner.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > quality of inspiring fear > quality of being horrible > [adverb] > in a gruesome manner as danse macabre
macabrely1898
1898 Yale Lit. Mag. June 440 With Godefroi the doctor comes down the passage to the hall, macabrely singing of the ‘Merry old skeleton, flesh underlying’.
1933 Winnipeg Free Press 11 Feb. 8/4 They are examples of the men of the Legion, one supposes, in many dramatic and macabrely humorous episodes.
1961 A. Wilson Old Men at Zoo ii. 107 The black suit she wore, against which her white face..stared out so macabrely.
1998 E. Bignell Which? Way to save & Invest (ed. 10) xxvi. 399 In the pop world, the 1950s and 1960s still provide the most collectable items, with, rather macabrely, pieces closely linked with dead stars such as John Lennon.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2000; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adv.1898