grimace

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See also: grimacé

English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From French grimace,[1] 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[edit]

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈɡɹɪm.əs/, (now rare) /ɡɹɪ.ˈmeɪs/;[2] enPR: grĭm'-əs, grĭ-mās'
  • Audio (Southern England)(file)
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈɡɹɪm.əs/, (now very rare) /ɡɹɪ.ˈmeɪs/;[2][3] 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[4] and preferred by dictionaries to the pronunciation with stress on the first syllable,[5] but it is now very rare.

Noun[edit]

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[edit]

Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

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[edit]

Translations[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  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[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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[edit]

Noun[edit]

grimace f (plural grimaces)

  1. grimace

Derived terms[edit]

Descendants[edit]

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

Verb[edit]

grimace

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

Further reading[edit]

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