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.