pos>adj. 1. portraying human injury or death in a way so as to inspiring shock or horror; gruesome; ghastly; as, macabre tortures conceived by madmen. [ Also spelled macaber. ] Syn. -- ghastly, grisly, gruesome, lurid. [ WordNet 1.5 ]
2. Pertaining to or portraying the grim aspects of death, or the allegorical dance of death. [ PJC ]
(adj) shockingly repellent; inspiring horror, Syn. grim, macabre, gruesome, grisly, sick, Example: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