lurid

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Describing shocking or horrifying things, especially violence or sex, in too much vivid detail.

   The tabloid reported the crime in lurid detail.

2. 2
   adj

   Unpleasantly bright or glowing in an unnatural way.

   A lurid red glow spread across the sky as the building burned.

Simplified etymology

Lurid comes from Latin luridus, related to luror, “a wan or yellow colour.” It originally meant “pale and dismal in colour”; during the early 18th century it described bright light appearing in gloom, and by the early 20th century had developed the contrasting sense “unpleasantly bright-coloured.”

Etymology tree Proto-Italic *loiros Latin lūror Latin lūridusbor. English lurid Borrowed from Latin lūridus (“pale yellow, wan”).

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