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Webster 1913 Edition

Grimace

Gri-mace′

(grĭm′ĭs or grĭ-mās′)
,
Noun.
[F., prob. of Teutonic origin; cf. AS.
grīma
mask, specter, Icel.
grīma
mask, hood, perh. akin to E.
grin
.]
A distortion of the countenance, whether habitual, from affectation, or momentary and occasional, to express some feeling, as contempt, disapprobation, complacency, etc.; a smirk; a made-up face.
Moving his face into such a hideous grimace, that every feature of it appeared under a different distortion.
Addison.
☞ “Half the French words used affectedly by Melantha in Dryden’s ‘Marriage a-la-Mode,’ as innovations in our language, are now in common use: chagrin, double-entendre, éclaircissement, embarras, équivoque, foible, grimace, naïvete, ridicule. All these words, which she learns by heart to use occasionally, are now in common use.”
I. Disraeli.

Gri-mace′

,
Verb.
I.
To make grimaces; to distort one's face; to make faces.
H. Martineau.

Webster 1828 Edition

Grimace

GRIMA'CE

, n.
1.
A distortion of the countenance, from habit, affectation or insolence.
2.
An air of affection.

Definition 2024

grimace

grimace

See also: grimacé

English

Noun

grimace ‎(plural grimaces)

  1. A contorted facial expression, often expressing contempt or pain.
    • 2005 March, Opera News:
      I trundle off to bed, eyes brimming, face twisted into a grateful glistening grimace, and awaken the next day wondering what all the fuss was about.

Translations

Verb

grimace ‎(third-person singular simple present grimaces, present participle grimacing, simple past and past participle grimaced)

  1. To make grimaces; to distort one's face; to make faces.

Translations

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 “grimace” (US) / “grimace” (UK) in Oxford Dictionaries, Oxford University Press.
  2. 1 2 “grimace” in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Online.
  3. ↑ For example, Scottish poet Robert Fergusson (1750–1774), in a poem, rhymes "na: rather gleefu' turn your face, / forsake hypocrisy, grimace". John Mitchell, in a work published in 1838, rhymes "without a hindrance or grimace, / a ready grave in every face".
  4. ↑ For example, The Orthoëpist: A Pronouncing Manual (1880) by Alfred Ayres.

French

Etymology

From Middle French grimace, from Old French grimace, grimuche ‎(“a contorted or wry face, grotesque countenance”), from grime ‎(“mask”) (with the pejorative suffix -ace, from Latin -āceus), from Old Frankish *grīma, *grīmo ‎(“mask”), from Proto-Germanic *grīmô ‎(“mask, helmet, cover, night”), from Proto-Indo-European *ghrēi- ‎(“to strip, paint, smear”). Cognate with Middle Dutch grime ‎(“mask”), Old Saxon grīma ‎(“mask”), Old English grīma ‎(“mask”), Old Norse gríma ‎(“mask, helmet, night”). More at grime.

Noun

grimace f ‎(plural grimaces)

  1. grimace

Derived terms

Verb

grimace

  1. first-person singular present indicative of grimacer
  2. third-person singular present indicative of grimacer
  3. first-person singular present subjunctive of grimacer
  4. third-person singular present subjunctive of grimacer
  5. second-person singular imperative of grimacer

Etymology

From French grimace, from Middle French grimace, from Old French grimace, grimuche, from grime ‎(“mask”) (with the pejorative suffix -ace, from Latin -āceus), from Old Frankish *grīma ‎(“mask”), from Proto-Germanic *grīmô ‎(“mask, helmet”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰer- ‎(“to stroke, rub”). Cognate with Old English grīma ‎(“mask, visor, helmet, spectre, apparition”). More at grime.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) enPR: grĭm'-əs, grĭ-mās'; IPA(key): /ˈɡɹɪm.əs/,[1](now rare) /ɡɹɪ.ˈmeɪs/[1]
  • (US) enPR: grĭm'-əs, grĭ-mās'; IPA(key): /ˈɡɹɪm.əs/,[1][2](now very rare) /ɡɹɪ.ˈmeɪs/[1][2]
  • Rhymes: -eɪs
The pronunciation with stress on the second syllable was the usual one in the 1700s and 1800s, found in poetry[3] and preferred by dictionaries to the pronunciation with stress on the first-syllable,[4] but it is now very rare.

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