grim

Etymology

From Old English grim, from Proto-Germanic *grimmaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡɹɪm/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪm

Adjective

grim (comparative grimmer, superlative grimmest)

1. dismal and gloomy, cold and forbidding

   Life was grim in many northern industrial towns.

2. rigid and unrelenting

   His grim determination enabled him to win.

3. ghastly or sinister

   A grim castle overshadowed the village.

   • 2012 March 22, Scott Tobias, “The Hunger Games”, in AV Club:

     In movie terms, it suggests Paul Verhoeven in Robocop/Starship Troopers mode, an R-rated bloodbath where the grim spectacle of children murdering each other on television is bread-and-circuses for the age of reality TV, enforced by a totalitarian regime to keep the masses at bay.

4. (Britain, slang) disgusting; gross

   - Wanna see the dead rat I found in my fridge?
   - Mate, that is grim!

Etymology

From Old Norse grimmr, from Proto-Germanic *grimmaz.

Adjective

grim

1. ugly, unsightly
2. nasty

Verb

grim

1. taking

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *grimmaz, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrem- (“to thunder”). Cognate with Old Saxon grim, Old High German grim (German grimm, grimmig), Old Norse grimmr (Danish grim, Swedish grym); and with Greek χρεμίζω (chremízo), Old Church Slavonic грьмѣти (grĭměti) (Russian греме́ть (gremétʹ)), Latvian gremt. Perhaps related in Old Norse to veiled or hooded, Grim is also an alternate name for Odin, who often went around disguised; compare the hooded appearance of The Grim Reaper.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡrim/

Adjective

grim

1. fierce, severe, terrible