English

Adjective

macabre ‎(comparative more macabre, superlative most macabre)

1. Representing or personifying death.
   • 1941, George C. Booth, Mexico's School-made Society, page 106

     There are four fundamental figures. One is a man measuring and comparing his world […] In front of him is a macabre figure, a cadaver ready to be dissected. This symbolizes man serving mankind. The third figure is the scientist, the man who makes use of the information gathered in the first two fields of mensurable science.

2. Obsessed with death or the gruesome.
   • 1993, Theodore Ziolkowski, "Wagner's Parsifal between Mystery and Mummery", in Werner Sollors (ed.), The Return of Thematic Criticism, pages 274-275

     Indeed, in the 1854 draft of Tristan he planned to have Parzival visit the dying knight, and both operas display the same macabre obsession with bloody gore and festering wounds.

3. Ghastly, shocking, terrifying.
   • 1927 [1938], H. P. Lovecraft, Supernatural Horror in Literature, Introduction

     The appeal of the spectrally macabre is generally narrow because it demands from the reader a certain degree of imagination and a capacity for detachment from every-day life.

Synonyms

• (ghastly): ghastly, horrifying, shocking, terrifying

Derived terms

• danse macabre

Translations

References

1. ↑ Arabic Linguistics Mailing List

See also

• Danse Macabre on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• carbeam

Catalan

Adjective

macabre m ‎(feminine macabra, masculine and feminine plural macabres)

1. macabre

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ma.kabʁ/

Adjective

macabre m, f ‎(plural macabres)

1. macabre

Synonyms

• lugubre

Derived terms

• danse macabre

Italian

Adjective

macabre f pl

1. feminine plural of macabro

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [maˈka.bre]

Adjective

macabre

1. feminine plural nominative form of macabru
2. feminine plural accusative form of macabru
3. neuter plural nominative form of macabru
4. neuter plural accusative form of macabru