lurid English · revision 1394

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈl(j)ʊə.ɹɪd/ ''(UK)''; /ˈlʊɹɪd/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|lūridus|t=pale yellow, sallow, ghastly]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from ''lūror'' “paleness”,^(AHD) a word of uncertain origin.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) Etymonline suggests a link with Greek ''khlōros'' “greenish-yellow” or Latin ''lividus''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Pale and dismal in colour; wan and sallow (1656).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) Merriam-Webster dates the word to 1603.^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Etymonline notes that the word has more to do with a mixture of light and gloom than with any colour.^(Etymonline) The sense “shining with a red glow amid darkness” is from 1727,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and a scientific sense, “dingy yellowish brown”, from 1767.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) The figurative sense of terrible, ominous or sensational, as in lurid details, appeared in 1850.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1656 – pale and ghastly.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1727 – glowing red amid darkness.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1767 – dingy yellowish brown, in science.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1850 – terrible, sensational.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Shocking and [[sensational]], especially in its details.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Causing horror; [[gruesome]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # Glowing with a fiery, unnatural red, as through smoke or haze.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # Pale and sallow; [[wan]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[luridly]]

+ * [[luridness]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Random House gives ''dismal'', ''pale'' and ''murky'' as synonyms of the sense “wan”.^(RHWU)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}