morbid

/'mɔ:bid/
Học thuật
Thân thiện
morbid

A child's morbid curiosity led him to ask about the old cemetery.

Definition
  1. Adjective:
    • Relating to or caused by disease; unhealthy or diseased: "morbid" can describe a physical condition, tissue, or process that is affected by or characteristic of disease.
    • Characterized by or appealing to an abnormal and unhealthy interest in disturbing and unpleasant subjects, especially death and decay: "morbid" describes an unhealthy state of mind or fascination.
    • Gloomy, gruesome, or horrifying: "morbid" can also describe something that suggests the horror of death and decay.
Examples of Usage
  • Adjective:
    • The doctor examined the morbid tissue from the biopsy. (The doctor examined the diseased tissue from the biopsy.)
    • She has a morbid fascination with true crime stories. (She has an unhealthy fascination with true crime stories.)
    • The painting's morbid details depicted scenes of decay. (The painting's gruesome details depicted scenes of decay.)
Advanced Usage
  • "Morbid curiosity": an unhealthy desire to learn about unpleasant or disturbing things.

    • He watched the accident scene out of morbid curiosity. (He watched the accident scene out of an unhealthy desire to see something disturbing.)
  • "Morbid anatomy": the branch of anatomy dealing with the structural changes caused by disease.

    • The medical student studied morbid anatomy to understand disease processes. (The medical student studied the anatomy of disease to understand disease processes.)
Variants and Related Words
  • Morbidity (n): the condition of being diseased; the incidence of disease in a population. Also, the quality of being morbid.

    • The morbidity rate for the illness was high. (The disease incidence rate for the illness was high.)
    • The morbidity of his thoughts was concerning. (The unhealthy quality of his thoughts was concerning.)
  • Morbidly (adv): in a morbid manner.

    • He was morbidly obsessed with his health. (He was unhealthily obsessed with his health.)
Synonyms
  • Diseased: affected with disease.
  • Pathological: relating to or caused by disease.
  • Macabre: disturbing and horrifying because of involvement with or depiction of death and injury.
  • Gruesome: causing repulsion or horror; grisly.
Related Phrases
  • Morbid obesity: a medical term for being severely overweight to the point where it seriously impacts health.
    • The patient was diagnosed with morbid obesity. (The patient was diagnosed with severe, health-threatening obesity.)
Related Idioms
  • "Morbid fear": an extreme and irrational fear, often of death or disease.
    • She had a morbid fear of hospitals. (She had an extreme and irrational fear of hospitals.)
morbid

A child's morbid curiosity led him to ask about the old cemetery.

Adjective
  1. caused by or altered by or manifesting disease or pathology
    • diseased tonsils
    • a morbid growth
    • pathologic tissue
    • pathological bodily processes
  2. suggesting the horror of death and decay
    • morbid details
  3. suggesting an unhealthy mental state
    • morbid interest in death
    • morbid curiosity