grim

pronunciation

How to pronounce grim in British English: UK [ɡrɪm]word uk audio image

How to pronounce grim in American English: US [ɡrɪm] word us audio image

  • Adjective:
    not to be placated or appeased or moved by entreaty
    shockingly repellent; inspiring horror
    harshly ironic or sinister
    causing dejection
    harshly uninviting or formidable in manner or appearance
    characterized by hopelessness; filled with gloom

Word Origin

grim
grim: [OE] Indo-European *ghrem-, *ghromprobably originated in imitation of the sound of rumbling (amongst its descendants was grumins ‘thunder’ in the extinct Baltic language Old Prussian). In Germanic it became *grem-, *gram-, *grum-, which not only produced the adjective *grimmaz (source of German grimm, Swedish grym, and English, Dutch, and Danish grim) and the English verb grumble [16], but was adopted into Spanish as grima ‘fright’, which eventually arrived in English as grimace [17].=> grimace, grumble
grim (adj.)
Old English grimm "fierce, cruel, savage; severe, dire, painful," from Proto-Germanic *grimmaz (cognates: Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Old High German, German grimm "grim, angry, fierce," Old Norse grimmr "stern, horrible, dire," Swedish grym "fierce, furious"), from PIE *ghrem- "angry," perhaps imitative of the sound of rumbling thunder (compare Greek khremizein "to neigh," Old Church Slavonic vuzgrimeti "to thunder," Russian gremet' "thunder"). A weaker word now than it once was; sense of "dreary, gloomy" first recorded late 12c. It also had a verb form in Old English, grimman (class III strong verb; past tense gramm, past participle grummen), and a noun, grima "goblin, specter," perhaps also a proper name or attribute-name of a god, hence its appearance as an element in place names. Grim reaper as a figurative phrase for "death" is attested by 1847 (the association of grim and death goes back at least to 17c.). A Middle English expression for "have recourse to harsh measures" was to wend the grim tooth (early 13c.).
grim (n.)
"spectre, bogey, haunting spirit," 1620s, from grim (adj.).

Antonym

Example

1. The immediate prospects for the british market remain grim .
2. That grim conclusion might surprise students of the euro crisis .
3. The impact on indian society is grim .
4. Our son 's preschool teacher gave us the grim news .
5. The grim reaper will bring change in both places soon .

more: >How to Use "Grim" with Example Sentences