grimace

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See also: grimacé

English

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 Frankish *grīma, *grīmō (“mask”), from Proto-Germanic *grīmô (“mask, helmet”). Cognate with Old English grīma (“mask, visor, helmet, spectre, apparition”). More at grime.

Pronunciation

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

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.
  2. (obsolete) Affectation, pretence.
    • 1789, John Moore, Zeluco, Valancourt, published 2008, page 105:
      Zeluco considered all this as mere affectation and grimace, and was convinced that she would, in due time, unfold the particular mode in which she wished to be indemnified […] .
    • 1790, Helen Maria Williams, Julia, Routledge, published 2016, page 21:
      Charlotte was equally insensible to all his fashionable grimace, and indifferent to his conversation.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

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

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

Derived terms

Translations

See also

References

  1. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “grimace”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 “grimace”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  3. ^ “grimace”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
  4. ^ 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".
  5. ^ For example, The Orthoëpist: A Pronouncing Manual (1880) by Alfred Ayres.

Further reading

Anagrams

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French grimace, from Old French grimace, grimuche (“a contorted or wry face, grotesque countenance”), from grime (“mask”) +‎ -ace (pejorative suffix; from Latin -āceus), from Old Frankish *grīma, *grīmo (“mask”), from Proto-Germanic *grīmô (“mask, helmet, cover, night”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrey- (“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.

Pronunciation

Noun

grimace f (plural grimaces)

  1. grimace

Derived terms

Descendants

  • → Dutch: grimas
  • → English: grimace
  • → German: Grimasse f
  • → Swedish: grimas

Verb

grimace

  1. inflection of grimacer:
    1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
    2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia