Lurid

//ˈl(j)ʊə.ɹɪd// adj

adj ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Pruriently detailed and sensationalistic about something shocking or horrifying, especially with regard to violence or sex.

    "The accident was described with lurid detail."

  2. 2
    Melodramatic.
  3. 3
    Ghastly, pale, wan in appearance.

    "Fierce o'er their beauty blazed the lurid flame;"

  4. 4
    Being of a light yellow hue.

    "The lurid lighting of the bar made for a very hazy atmosphere."

  5. 5
    Having a brown colour tinged with red.

    "a lurid plant with maroon leaves and pink flowers"

Adjective
  1. 1
    shining with an unnatural red glow as of fire seen through smoke wordnet
  2. 2
    ghastly pale wordnet
  3. 3
    glaringly vivid and graphic; marked by sensationalism wordnet
  4. 4
    horrible in fierceness or savagery wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
colorlessshockingachromaticachromicaffectedaglow

Example

More examples

"Day after day the tabloids titillated the public with lurid details about the president's marital infidelity."

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin lūridus (“pale yellow, wan”).

More for "lurid"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.