grotesque
Use Grotesque in a sentence
adjective
1.
odd or unnatural in shape, appearance, or character; fantastically ugly or absurd; bizarre.
2.
fantastic in the shaping and combination of forms, as in decorative work combining incongruous human and animal figures with scrolls, foliage, etc.
noun
3.
any grotesque object, design, person, or thing.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
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Link To grotesque
00:10
Grotesque
is always a great word to know.
So is flibbertigibbet. Does it mean:
| a chattering or flighty, light-headed person. |
| a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
grotesque (ɡrəʊˈtɛsk) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —adj | |
| 1. | strangely or fantastically distorted; bizarre: a grotesque reflection in the mirror |
| 2. | of or characteristic of the grotesque in art |
| 3. | absurdly incongruous; in a ludicrous context: a grotesque turn of phrase |
| —n | |
| 4. | a 16th-century decorative style in which parts of human, animal, and plant forms are distorted and mixed |
| 5. | a decorative device, as in painting or sculpture, in this style |
| 6. | printing the family of 19th-century sans serif display types |
| 7. | any grotesque person or thing |
| [C16: from French, from Old Italian (pittura) grottesca cave painting, from grottesco of a cave, from grotta cave; see | |
| gro'tesquely | |
| —adv | |
| gro'tesqueness | |
| —n | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
grotesque
1561, originally a noun, from M.Fr. crotesque, from It. grottesco, lit. "of a cave," from grotta (see grotto). Used first of paintings found on the walls of basements of Roman ruins (It. pittura grottesca). Originally "fanciful, fantastic," sense became pejorative after mid-18c.
Grotty, slang shortening, had a brief vogue 1964 as part of Liverpool argot popularized by The Beatles in "A Hard Day's Night."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
So then you put forward the ugly as a type for imitation, you make the grotesque an element of art.
Not in him but off from him things are grotesque or eccentric or fail of their sanity.
We grow up-if we're lucky-in security and wonder, and afterward are delivered to the grotesque fact of our end.
She looked like some kind of grotesque praying mantis.
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