| English Dictionary |
GRIM (grimmer, grimmest)
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
| IPA (US): |  |
, grimmest Dictionary entry overview: What does grim mean?
• GRIM (adjective)
The adjective GRIM has 6 senses:
1. not to be placated or appeased or moved by entreaty
2. shockingly repellent; inspiring horror
3. harshly ironic or sinister
4. harshly uninviting or formidable in manner or appearance
5. filled with melancholy and despondency
6. causing dejection
Familiarity information: GRIM used as an adjective is common.
Dictionary entry details
| Declension: comparative and superlative |
Superlative: grimmest
Sense 1
Meaning:
Not to be placated or appeased or moved by entreaty
Synonyms:
grim; inexorable; relentless; stern; unappeasable; unforgiving; unrelenting
Context example:
the stern demands of parenthood
Similar:
implacable (incapable of being placated)
Derivation:
grimness (something hard to endure)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Shockingly repellent; inspiring horror
Synonyms:
ghastly; grim; grisly; gruesome; macabre; sick
Context example:
macabre tortures conceived by madmen
Similar:
alarming (frightening because of an awareness of danger)
Derivation:
grimness (the quality of being ghastly)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Harshly ironic or sinister
Synonyms:
Context example:
fun ranging from slapstick clowning ... to savage mordant wit
Similar:
sarcastic (expressing or expressive of ridicule that wounds)
Derivation:
grimness (the quality of being ghastly)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Harshly uninviting or formidable in manner or appearance
Synonyms:
dour; forbidding; grim
Context example:
undoubtedly the grimmest part of him was his iron claw
Similar:
unpleasant (offensive or disagreeable; causing discomfort or unhappiness)
Derivation:
grimness (the quality of being ghastly)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Filled with melancholy and despondency
Synonyms:
blue; depressed; dispirited; down; down in the mouth; downcast; downhearted; gloomy; grim; low; low-spirited
Context example:
feeling discouraged and downhearted
Similar:
dejected (affected or marked by low spirits)
Sense 6
Meaning:
Causing dejection
Synonyms:
blue; dark; dingy; disconsolate; dismal; drab; drear; dreary; gloomy; grim; sorry
Context example:
grim rainy weather
Similar:
cheerless; depressing; uncheerful (causing sad feelings of gloom and inadequacy)
Context examples
This eagerness on their part was noted by Wolf Larsen with a grim smile.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
I had never seen my friend’s face so grim or his brow so dark as it was when we turned from the scene of this investigation.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
I saw the old man throw up his arms, a terrible convulsion passed over his grim face, and he fell back in his chair.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
And there remain one more victim in the Vampire fold; one more to swell the grim and grisly ranks of the Un-Dead!...
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
There she saw a lonely house, looking so grim and mysterious, that it did not please her at all.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
He might have been forty years of age, though hard toil and harder pleasure had left their grim marks upon his features.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The telling of this grim story had cast a chill upon all of us.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
It was a singular spot, and one peculiarly well suited to the grim humour of my patient.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
A moment afterwards he had entered the block house and with one grim nod to me proceeded with his work among the sick.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
But, according to a new study, the outlook for this critical insect is mostly grim.
(Study Finds Mixed News About Bee Populations, VOA)
| Learn English with... Proverbs |
"The rainbow is a sign from Him who is in all things." (Native American proverb, Hopi)
"A bite from a lion is better the look of envy." (Arabic proverb)
"Forbidden fruit is the sweetest." (Czech proverb)