grisly

Etymology 1

From Middle English grisely, grysly, grissliȝ, griselich, grislich, from Old English grisliċ (“grisly, horrible; dreadful, horrid”), from grīsan (“to shudder with horror; to tremble, to be terrified; to make tremble, to terrify; to agrise, grise”) (unattested but implied in āgrīsan) + -lic (suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘characteristic of, pertaining to’). The word may also be an aphetic form of Old English ongrislic, agrisenliċ, the past participle of agrīsan (“to agrise”). Compare Danish grusom, Swedish gräslig, Middle Dutch grezelijc (modern Dutch griezelig), Middle High German grisenlich (modern German grässlich, grausen).

adj

1. Horrifyingly repellent; gruesome, terrifying.
   The photographs of the killings depict a grisly scene.
   Then clad in cloake of mistie fogges the darke night vp did come, / And with grim grislie looke did seeme to bid me get me home; […] 1610, Richard Niccols, “The Indvction”, in A Winter Nights Vision; being an Addition of such Princes Especially Famous, who were Exempted in the Former Historie, part IV, London: Felix Kyngston, →OCLC; republished as Joseph Haslewood, editor, Mirror for Magistrates, volume II, part II, London: Printed for Lackington, Allen, and Co. Finsbury Square; and Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orms, and Brown, Paternoster Row, 1815, →OCLC, page 548
   It was sore travelling for horse and man under the blazing sun, with no food nor water save what he pressed from the pith of the palms, and even these were growing scarce. The only life on the plains was the hard and dusty scrub. Every hour brought a more hopeless and grislier desolation. 1878, John Boyle O'Reilly, “On the Trail”, in Moondyne: A Story from the Under-world, London: George Routledge and Sons, published 1879, →OCLC; republished as Moondyne: A Story of Convict Life in Australia, London: George Routledge & Sons, Limited, Broadway House, Ludgate Hill, [1880s], →OCLC, book first, pages 23–24
   We know too well the bestial assault you are making upon the Russian people, to whom our hearts go out in their valiant struggle. We will have no truce or parley with you, or the grisly gang who work your wicked will. You do your worst and we will do our best. 1941, Winston Churchill, The Unrelenting Struggle
   In his Galway Kinnell's] new book, Body Rags, he has brought this style to a kind of perfection, especially in two poems about the killing of animals, "The Porcupine" and "The Bear." These are the grisliest poems I have ever read. 1968 summer, Hayden Carruth, “Making It New”, in The Hudson Review, volume XXI, number 2, New York, N.Y.: Hudson Review, Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC; reprinted as “From ‘Making It New’ [Body Rags]”, in Howard Nelson, editor, On the Poetry of Galway Kinnell: The Wages of Dying (Under Discussion), Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Press, 1987, page 75
   Perhaps you have to have seen the first film to like this one; to feel, like the young fans of Harry Potter, that without knowing or wanting it, you have grown up with its grisly protagonists. 19 January 2017, Peter Bradshaw, “T2 Trainspotting review – choose a sequel that doesn’t disappoint”, in The Guardian, London, archived from the original on 2017-01-20
2. Obsolete form of grizzly.
   The animals found in this province are, deer, elk, buffalo, cabrie, the grisly black bear, and wild horses. 1830, Josiah Conder, The Modern Traveller: Mexico (continued), Guatemala, page 84
3. Misspelling of gristly.

noun

1. Obsolete form of grizzly (“type of bear”).
   1893, Theodore Roosevelt, Hunting the Grisly and Other Sketches:

Etymology 2

From grisle (“horror, terror”) + -ly; compare Middle Dutch griselike, Middle Low German grislike.

adv

1. (obsolete) In a horrible or terrible manner; in a terrifying way.
   [A] very fair young gentlewoman [Sir Roger Wentworth's daughter], of twelve years of age, in marvellous manner vexed and tormented by our ghostly enemy, the devil, her mind alienated and raving, with despising and blaspheming of God, and hatred of all hallowed things, […] finally being brought and laid before the image of our blessed lady, was there, in the sight of many worshipful people, so grievously tormented, and in face, eyes, look, and countenance, so grisly changed, with her mouth drawn aside, and her eyes laid out upon her cheeks, that it was a terrible sight to behold. And after many marvellous things, […] restored to their good state, perfectly cured and suddenly. 1850, William Tyndale, quoting Thomas More, “[The Solutions and Answers unto M. More’s First Book.] The Sixteenth Chapter”, in Henry Walter, editor, An Answer to Sir Thomas More’s Dialogue, The Supper of the Lord after the True Meaning of John VI. and 1 Cor. XI. and Wm. Tracy’s Testament Expounded. By William Tyndale, Martyr, 1536. Edited for the Parker Society, by the Rev. Henry Walter, B.D. F.R.S. …, Cambridge: Printed at the University Press, →OCLC, page 90, footnote
   A valiant Captain of great prowess, as fierce as a fox assaulting a goose, was so hardy to give the first stroke: then got they so grisly together, that great was the activity that day to be seen there on both sides: the one very eager for purchase of prey, the other utterly stout for redemption of liberty: thus, quarrel enflamed the fury on both sides: twice the Danes had the better, but at the last conflict, beaten down, overcome, and many led captive for triumph by our English women. 1870, George Adlard, “A Letter: Whearin Part of the Entertainment unto the Queen’s Majesty at Killingworth Castl in Warwiksheer in this Somers Progress—1575 is Signified: From a Freend Officer Attendant in the Court unto His Freend a Citizen and Merchaunt of London. … With Explanatory Notes.”, in Amye Robsart and the Earl of Leycester; a Critical Inquiry into the Authenticity of the Various Statements in Relation to the Death of Amye Robsart, and of the Libels on the Earl of Leycester, with a Vindication of the Earl by His Nephew Sir Philip Sydney. And a History of Kenilworth Castle, including an Account of the Splendid Entertainment Given to Queen Elizabeth by the Earl of Leycester, in 1575, from the Works of Robert Laneham and George Gascoigne; together with Memoirs and Correspondence of Sir Robert Dudley, Son of the Earl of Leycester, London: John Russell Smith, 36 Soho Square, →OCLC, page 142