adj
Meaning 1
Representing or personifying death.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
macabre
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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Received-Pronunciation: /ˌməˈkɑː.bɹə/
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Received-Pronunciation: /ˌməˈkɑː.bə/
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General-American: /məˈkɑb/
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General-American: /ˌməˈkɑ.bɹə/
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General-American: /ˌməˈkɑ.bəɹ/
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US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with -ɑːbə(ɹ)
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rhymes with -ɑb (US)
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homophone: McCobb
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CMU ARPABET: M AH0 K AA1 B R AH0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
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CMU ARPABET 2: M AH0 K AA1 B ER0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
adj
Meaning 2
Obsessed with death or the gruesome.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 3
Ghastly, shocking, terrifying.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: ghastly, horrifying, shocking, terrifying
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
Meaning 4
shockingly repellent; inspiring horror
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- ghastly wounds
- the grim aftermath of the bombing
- the grim task of burying the victims
- a grisly murder
- gruesome evidence of human sacrifice
- macabre tales of war and plague in the Middle ages
- macabre tortures conceived by madmen
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: ghastly, grim, grisly, gruesome, sick
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
Borrowed from French macabre, whose etymology is uncertain. Possibly from the term danse macabre, most commonly believed to be from corruption of the biblical name Maccabees; compare Latin Chorea Machabaeorum. Another theory derives the French term (through Spanish macabro) from Arabic مَقَابِر (maqābir, “cemeteries”), plural of مَقْبَرَة (maqbara) or مَقْبُرَة (maqbura).
Across languages
Translations
59 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Basque: makabro — representing or personifying death
- Catalan: macabre — representing or personifying death
- Dutch: macaber — representing or personifying death
- Esperanto: makabra — representing or personifying death
- Finnish: makaaberi — representing or personifying death
- Finnish: kalmankatkuinen — representing or personifying death
- French: macabre — representing or personifying death
- German: makaber — representing or personifying death
- Greek: μακάβριος (makávrios) — representing or personifying death
- Portuguese: macabro — representing or personifying death
- Romanian: macabru — representing or personifying death
- Romansh: macaber — representing or personifying death
- Russian: макабрический (makabričeskij) — representing or personifying death
- Spanish: macabro — representing or personifying death
- Swedish: makaber — representing or personifying death
- French: macabre — obsessed with death
- French: morbide — obsessed with death
- French: gothique — obsessed with death
- French: thanatophile — obsessed with death
- Romanian: macabru — obsessed with death
- Spanish: macabro — obsessed with death
- Spanish: gótico — obsessed with death
- Spanish: mórbido — obsessed with death
- Turkish: mevtapesent — obsessed with death
- Bulgarian: зловещ (zlovešt) — ghastly, shocking, terrifying
- Esperanto: terura — ghastly, shocking, terrifying
- Finnish: makaaberi — ghastly, shocking, terrifying
- Finnish: kaamea — ghastly, shocking, terrifying
- Finnish: kammottava — ghastly, shocking, terrifying
- French: macabre — ghastly, shocking, terrifying
- French: sinistre lugubre — ghastly, shocking, terrifying
- French: morbide — ghastly, shocking, terrifying
- French: funèbre — ghastly, shocking, terrifying
- French: funeste — ghastly, shocking, terrifying
- French: effrayant — ghastly, shocking, terrifying
- French: horrible — ghastly, shocking, terrifying
- German: grausig — ghastly, shocking, terrifying
- Greek: μακάβριος (makávrios) — ghastly, shocking, terrifying
- Irish: adhfhuafar — ghastly, shocking, terrifying
- Korean: 섬뜩하다 (seomtteukhada) — ghastly, shocking, terrifying
- Korean: 소름 끼치다 (soreum kkichida) — ghastly, shocking, terrifying
- Māori: wetiweti — ghastly, shocking, terrifying
- Māori: rihariha — ghastly, shocking, terrifying
- Māori: whakarihariha — ghastly, shocking, terrifying
- Māori: weriweri — ghastly, shocking, terrifying
- Māori: mōrikarika — ghastly, shocking, terrifying
- Norwegian Bokmål: makaber — ghastly, shocking, terrifying
- Norwegian Nynorsk: makaber — ghastly, shocking, terrifying
- Polish: makabryczny — ghastly, shocking, terrifying
- Romanian: îngrozitor — ghastly, shocking, terrifying
- Spanish: macabro — ghastly, shocking, terrifying
- Spanish: funesto — ghastly, shocking, terrifying
- Spanish: siniestro — ghastly, shocking, terrifying
- Spanish: horroroso — ghastly, shocking, terrifying
- Spanish: horrendo — ghastly, shocking, terrifying
- Spanish: fúnebre — ghastly, shocking, terrifying
- Spanish: lúgubre — ghastly, shocking, terrifying
- Turkish: korkunç — ghastly, shocking, terrifying
- Turkish: dehşetengiz — ghastly, shocking, terrifying
Real reading context