lurid

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈl(j)ʊə.ɹɪd/ (UK); /ˈlʊɹɪd/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin lūridus (“pale yellow, sallow, ghastly”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from lūror “paleness”,^[2] a word of uncertain origin.^[3][4] Etymonline suggests a link with Greek khlōros “greenish-yellow” or Latin lividus.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pale and dismal in colour; wan and sallow (1656).^[7][4] Merriam-Webster dates the word to 1603.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline notes that the word has more to do with a mixture of light and gloom than with any colour.^[4] The sense “shining with a red glow amid darkness” is from 1727,^[7][4] and a scientific sense, “dingy yellowish brown”, from 1767.^[7][4] The figurative sense of terrible, ominous or sensational, as in lurid details, appeared in 1850.^[7][3][4]

Timeline

• 1656 – pale and ghastly.^[7][4]
• 1727 – glowing red amid darkness.^[7][4]
• 1767 – dingy yellowish brown, in science.^[7][4]
• 1850 – terrible, sensational.^[7][3][4]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Shocking and sensational, especially in its details.
2. Causing horror; gruesome.
3. Glowing with a fiery, unnatural red, as through smoke or haze.
4. Pale and sallow; wan.

Word family

• luridly
• luridness

Usage notes

Random House gives dismal, pale and murky as synonyms of the sense “wan”.^[6]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press