grimace
pronunciation
How to pronounce grimace in British English:
UK [ˈɡrɪməs]
How to pronounce grimace in American English:
US [ˈɡrɪməs]
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- Noun:
- a contorted facial expression
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- Verb:
- contort the face to indicate a certain mental or emotional state
Word Origin
- grimace (n.)
- 1650s, from French grimace (15c.) "grotesque face, ugly mug," possibly from Frankish or another Germanic source (compare Old Saxon grima "face mask," Old English grima "mask, helmet"), from the same root as grim (adj.). With pejorative suffix -azo (from Latin -aceus).
- grimace (v.)
- 1707, from French grimacer, from grimace "grotesque face" (see grimace (n.)). Related: Grimaced; grimacing.
Example
- 1. I fought back the grimace that would give her lie away .
- 2. Still , she managed only a small grimace , and the allowance that it was " pretty cool " .
- 3. He dipped his shoulders , produced a tight grin that tapered to a grimace at both corners of his mouth .
- 4. Grimace painfully while smacking your forehead and muttering , " shut up , all of you , just shut up ! "
- 5. Back then I learned that infants initially smile as a type of reflex , almost as a way of getting them jump-started , but very soon afterward that grimace emerges into a social smile .