lu•rid (ˈlʊər ɪd)
adj.
1. gruesome; horrible; revolting: the lurid details of an accident.
2. wildly dramatic or sensational; shocking: the lurid tales of pulp magazines.
3. shining with an unnatural, fiery glow; garishly red: a lurid sunset.
4. wan, pallid, or ghastly in hue; livid.
[1650–60; < Latin lūridus sallow, ghastly]
lu′rid•ly, adv.
lu′rid•ness, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
lurid
adjective
1. sensational, shocking, disgusting, graphic, violent, savage, startling, grim, exaggerated, revolting, explicit, vivid, ghastly, gruesome, grisly, macabre, melodramatic, yellow (of journalism), gory, unrestrained, shock-horror (facetious) lurid accounts of deaths and mutilations
sensational controlled, mild, factual, carefree, breezy, jaunty, light-hearted
2. glaring, bright, bloody, intense, flaming, vivid, fiery, livid, sanguine, glowering, overbright She always painted her toenails a lurid red or orange.
glaring pale, pastel, watery
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002