Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Drama that emphasizes the horrifying or the macabre.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun A Parisian theatre which specialized in grotesque and grisly horror shows.
  • proper noun by extension That which thrives on grotesquery and gore.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a play of a macabre or horrific nature

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[After Le Grand Guignol, a theater in Paris.]

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Examples

  • Producer David Gregory's conceit was to set half a dozen directors free to explore the traditions of Grand Guignol .

    'Man on a Ledge' Does a Balancing Act John Anderson 2012

  • The attitude of these revivers of Grand Guignol, Parisian horror and gore, is summed up by their cheeky motto: "Sissies Stay Home."

    Red Room: Pam Tent: Home Is Where You Hang Your Hat: Why San Francisco Is It for Me Red Room 2011

  • As previous productions have proved, this is a company that can make Shakespeare seem strikingly modern, and this matching of the Grand Guignol comedy of Richard III with the intricately constructed Errors should provide an opportunity to see Propeller fly.

    This week's new theatre 2011

  • Heavy metal: Gaga has often said she wants to write pop songs that metal fans would like, and the Grand Guignol of hard rock, its goriness, its drama and its theatre, has clearly loomed large in her creative imagination.

    Understanding Lady Gaga 2011

  • Some of the poets focus their skills on atrocities of their own devising, in verse that shocks and innovates: Tony Barnstone weds classic sonnet forms with modern Grand Guignol for poems including "The Chop Shop," which is too ghoulish for quoting.

    The ABCBs Of Murder Tom Nolan 2011

  • Shows from the local masters of gory Grand Guignol theater have involved bloody splash zones, lost limbs and even tongue-removal.

    On stage in March 2011

  • Eventually the grim tale becomes so monotonously macabre that even the nasty, penultimate little plot twist gets lost in the relentless Grand Guignol.

    'Sweeney Todd' Is a Cut Above Judy Fayard 2011

  • Meanwhile, the slave quarters have become Lorena and Bill's own Grand Guignol theater, and the manicured grounds are being prowled by werewolves.

    Mark Blankenship: True Blood Sucker Punch: Season 3, Ep. 6 2010

  • Working in the Grand Guignol tradition, Molotov Theatre Group likes to spray a little blood.

    Capital Fringe Festival reviews 2010

  • But the real draw is a timeless story, aided by Harold Prince's directorial flourishes and a theatrical Grand Guignol charm.

    Fern Siegel: Stage Door: Restoration, Phantom of the Opera 2010

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