morbid

Morbid is an adjective used to describe things related to death, disease, or an unhealthy or abnormal state. It derives from Latin morbidus, meaning diseased, from morbus (disease). In everyday use, morbid often signals a fascination with grim or disturbing topics, as in morbid curiosity or morbid humor.

The term can describe attitudes, interests, or states that are considered unhealthy or excessive. For example, someone might have a morbid fascination with death, or a work might feature morbid imagery. In medical contexts, morbid describes conditions that are serious or life-threatening, though this usage is more formal and specific than its broader, cultural sense.

In medical and epidemiological language, related terms help distinguish meanings. Morbidity refers to the state of being diseased or the incidence of disease within a population, while mortality refers to death. Morbid is sometimes paired with obesity in common terminology, as in morbid obesity, indicating severe obesity with significant health risks, and the related adjective morbidly obese.

Culturally, morbid has a negative or unsettling connotation, often used to critique or describe art, humor, or narratives that dwell on death or disease. While it can be employed descriptively, it is typically avoided in neutral, clinical narration unless specifying a particular condition or attitude. Overall, morbid signals a departure from normal health toward death-linked or pathology-associated themes.