Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Unrelenting; rigid.
- adj. Uninviting or unnerving in aspect; forbidding: "undoubtedly the grimmest part of him was his iron claw” ( J.M. Barrie).
- adj. Ghastly; sinister: "He made a grim jest at the horrifying nature of his wound” ( Reginald Pound). See Synonyms at ghastly.
- adj. Dismal; gloomy: a grim, rainy day.
- adj. Ferocious; savage: the grim advance of the pillaging army.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Of a fierce, stern, or forbidding aspect; severe or repellent in appearance or demeanor; fierce; sullen; surly.
- Stern in character or quality; unyielding; dreadful; formidable: as, grim determination.
- Marked by harshness or severity; distressful; dolorous; cheerless: as, grim suffering; a grim jest.
- Synonyms Grisly, Hideous, etc. (see ghastly); severe, harsh, hard.
- n. Anger; wrath.
- To make grim; give a stern or forbidding aspect to.
Wiktionary
- adj. dismal and gloomy, cold and forbidding
- adj. rigid and unrelenting
- adj. ghastly or sinister
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Of forbidding or fear-inspiring aspect; fierce; stern; surly; cruel; frightful; horrible.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. causing dejection
- adj. not to be placated or appeased or moved by entreaty
- adj. filled with melancholy and despondency
- adj. harshly ironic or sinister
- adj. shockingly repellent; inspiring horror
- adj. harshly uninviting or formidable in manner or appearance
Etymologies
- Middle English, from Old English, fierce, severe.
Examples
“Her dark curls were disheveled, her expression grim and making her look every one of her fifty-plus years.”
“Detective Hauer was there, his expression grim as he watched the proceedings.”
“Slater was too preoccupied to take notice of any of them, his expression grim and haunted as he rode the brake and swung the low-slung sportscar into its stall.”
““Not personally,” Royce said, his expression grim as he set down the snifter.”
“Robert held her gaze for a long time, his expression grim and slightly troubled.”
“Blood Thorn had painted his face black, his expression grim.”
“A nurse darted out, her expression grim, and went hurrying past Sharon toward the ward station.”
“He turned away from the old man, his expression grim.”
“Shy raised his hands in a sort of mock dismay, although his tone was deadly serious and his expression grim.”
““Speak for yourself,” the earl said, his expression grim.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘grim’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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The Encantadas
"I then pictured these three straightforward monsters, century after century, writhing through the shades, grim as blacksmiths; crawling so slowly and ponderously, that not not only did toadstools ...
all-forsaken, plutonian, woe-begone, grim, penal conflagration, spectre-tortoise, death-tick, blacksmith, somnambulism, chanticleer, unshorn, calcined and 1 more...
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JK Rowling's Magical Vocabulary
muggle, pensieve, boggart, animagus, grim, occlumency, polyjuice potion, howler, horcrux, deatheater, gryffindor, ravenclaw and 49 more...
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Phonestheme: GR-, the Bad Mood
Grateful credit to http://reocities.com/SoHo/Studios/9783/phond1.html.
grumble, grump, grumpy, grouch, grouchy, gruff, gripe, grouse, growl, grim, grind, grimace and 1 more...
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mots justes
No true synonyms, no other word will do.
dysphemism, nyehre, conflate, onomatopœic, galumph, zeitgeist, mercenary, theomeny, git, snarky, sass, smarmy and 43 more...
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