grim

adj

/ɡɹɪm/US

Etymology

From Middle English grim, grym, greme, from Old English *grimu, *grimmu, grima, from Proto-Germanic *grimmį̄ (“anger, wrath”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrem- (“to resound, thunder, grumble, roar”). Cognate with Middle Dutch grimme, Middle High German grimme f (“anger”), modern German Grimm m.

derived from *gʰrem-✻ — “to resound, thunder, grumble, roar”
inherited from *grimmaz✻
inherited from *grimm✻
inherited from grimm
inherited from grim

Definitions

1
Dismal and gloomy, cold and forbidding.
- Life was grim in many northern industrial towns.
- Developments were markedly different in the Soviet zone, but ultimately ended in perhaps an even grimmer dead end: that of SED leader Walter Ulbricht’s thoroughly Stalinized German Democratic Republic (GDR).
2
Rigid and unrelenting.
- His grim determination enabled him to win.
3
Ghastly or sinister.
- A grim castle overshadowed the village.
›+ 7 more definitionsshow fewer
1. 4
  Disgusting
  Disgusting; gross.
  - – Wanna see the dead rat I found in my fridge? – Mate, that is grim!
  - Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; […]
2. 5
  Fierce, cruel, furious.
  - The LORDE shall be grymme vpon them, and destroye all the goddes in the londe. And all the Iles of the Heithen shal worshipe him, euery man in his place.
  - The first people we saw were two grim and stout Salvages upon Cape Charles, with long poles like Javelings, headed with bone, they boldly demanded what we were, and what we would[…]
  - Besides what the grim wolf with privy paw / Daily devours apace, and nothing said.
3. To make grim
  To make grim; to give a stern or forbidding aspect to.
4. 7
  A promiscuous woman.
  - You got a new girl and she looks choong (Choong) But you didn't know your girl was a grim […] Your girl she's a grim, I wouldn't have no grim as my ting
5. Anger, wrath.
6. A specter, ghost, haunting spirit.
7. An English surname

The neighborhood

Derived

grimdark, grim-gram, grimlike, grimly, grimmish, grimness, Grim Reaper, grimsome, grim-the-collier, grim trigger, it's grim up north, like grim death, grimful, grimless

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at grim. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

A definitional loop anchored at grim. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

7 hops · closes at grim

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA