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lurid

used in a sentence
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Definition shocking, as from disturbing details of a horrible story, or a color more vivid (bright or deep) than would be expected

Long ago, lurid referred to a yellowish color or things and from there to things so shocking they make someone turn pale. Later, but still in the 18th century, it was used to describe a vivid red and is still used to describe vivid colors—especially red.
  • Her blog specializes in sharing lurid details of horrible crimes.
lurid = shocking and disturbing
  • I'll spare you the lurid details.
  • lurid = shocking and disturbing
  • She creates paintings in lurid colors.
  • lurid = surprisingly vivid (bright or deep)
  • Lockhart, wearing lurid pink robes to match the decorations, was waving for silence.
    J.K. Rowling  --  Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
  • lurid = surprisingly brightly colored
  • The walls were all covered with large, lurid pink flowers.
    J.K. Rowling  --  Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
  • lurid = surprisingly brightly colored
  • A January day was drawing to its close; the cold evening was more keen than ever in the motionless air, and a lurid sunset was rapidly dying away.
    Ivan Turgenev  --  Fathers and Sons
  • Even then with lurid thoughts occupying him.
    Stephen King  --  Rose Red
  • Mrs. Tristram's glance at her husband had more of a spark; she turned to Newman with a slightly lurid smile.
    Henry James  --  The American
  • She showed me the lurid lines on her wrists, like bracelets.
    Gillian Flynn  --  Gone Girl
  • Excess had brought on that frightful disease that seems to throw the lurid shadows of a coming retribution back into the present life.
    Harriet Beecher Stowe  --  Uncle Tom's Cabin
  • And along the margin where the water sometimes broke was a thick incrustation of salt—pink under the lurid sky.
    H.G. Wells  --  The Time Machine
  • Besides her many cuts and bruises, though — some of them luridly three-dimensional — Helen had a concussion.
    Gish Jen  --  Typical American
  • Isabel stood staring; she seemed to-day to live in a world illumined by lurid flashes.
    Henry James  --  The Portrait of a Lady - Volume 2
  • I was about to mention the importance of reflection, and here we are, presented with this lurid imbecility.
    Jostein Gaarder  --  Sophie's World
  • The rippling veil of black and crimson smoke filtered the sun's rays in such a way that everything below was bathed in a lurid orange.
    Christopher Paolini  --  Eldest
  • The family picture stood out in lurid colors.
    Fyodor Dostoyevsky  --  The Brothers Karamazov
  • 1) Thee on the two-crested rock Lurid-flaming torches see; Where Corisian maidens flock, Thee the springs of Castaly.
    Sophocles  --  Antigone
  • Up until now I hadn't fully understood the difference: that even his most lurid dreams weren't weirder or more frightening than what inspired them.
    Tracy Kidder  --  Strength in What Remains
  • Overhead was the great patch of lurid light on the roof of the Underworld.
    C.S. Lewis  --  The Silver Chair
  • She found me reading a book one day called, The Lurid Mystery of the Haunted Hall.
    Lucy Maud Montgomery  --  Anne Of Green Gables

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