grotesque
/ɡɹoʊˈtɛsk/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.28 in modern English
19
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
adj
noun
A style of ornamentation characterized by fanciful combinations of intertwined forms.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "The chimney-piece was of party-coloured marble, covered with figures, some of whose faces were beautiful, but generally running off into those grotesque combinations which characterised the peculiar taste of their time."
- "A Libyan longing took us, and we would have chosen, if we could, to bear a strand of grotesque beads, or a handful of brazen gauds, and traffic them for some sable maid with crisp locks, whom, uncoffling from the captive train beside the desert, we should make to do our general housework forever, through the right of lawful purchase."
- "Some of the vehicles are, indeed, taxis, but all of them are unoccupied, and most have their doors left open. There are colossally tall darkened figures stalking down the streets, so dark and slender that Wheeler actually fails to notice them. There is screaming, a grotesque, awful screaming coming from many human mouths, coming from somewhere down the main road. But that's the only way he can go."
- "Trump’s grotesque and incomprehensible fondness for Putin makes the details of any deal highly dangerous for Europe and the NATO alliance, founded to confront Russia."
- "Obese and largely unintelligible, Don Vito represents a working-class white male grotesque, the picture of excess."
- "He’s also the new character from Sacha Baron Cohen, the man behind Ali G, Borat and Brüno: that unholy trinity of comic grotesques that told us a lot more about ourselves than we’d like to admit."
Etymology
Etymology tree Ancient Greek κρύπτω (krúptō) Ancient Greek κρυπτή (kruptḗ)bor. Latin crypta Italian grotta Proto-Indo-European *-iskos Proto-Germanic *-iskaz Proto-West Germanic *-iskbor. Vulgar Latin -iscus Italian -esco Italian grottescobor. Middle French grotesquebor. English grotesque Borrowed from Middle French grotesque, from Italian grottesco, from grotta (“cave”) + -esco (relational suffix). By surface analysis, grotto + -esque. Compare French grotesque, English grotto.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: grottesco
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ɡɹoʊˈtɛsk/
- British English: /ɡɹəʊˈtɛsk/
Usage
Inflected Forms
grotesquer (comparative)
more grotesque (comparative)
grotesquest (superlative)
most grotesque (superlative)
grotesques (plural)
grotesques (present, singular)
grotesquing (participle, present)
grotesqueing (participle, present)
grotesqued (participle, past)
grotesqued (past)