grim
pronunciation
How to pronounce grim in British English:
UK [ɡrɪm]
How to pronounce grim in American English:
US [ɡrɪm]
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- 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.).
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 .