grimdark

English

Etymology

grim +‎ dark. Inspired by the tagline of the tabletop strategy game Warhammer 40,000: "In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war."

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡɹɪmˌdɑː(ɹ)k/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: grim‧dark
• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)k

Adjective

grimdark (comparative more grimdark, superlative most grimdark)

1. (fandom slang) Having a gloomy, dystopian atmosphere.
   • 2012, Playa, “Re: Roundup”, in rec.games.miniatures.warhammer (Usenet):

     Most original. Brilliantly so! What's not to like? "Jarringly non-grimdark," carpers will sneer.

   • 2012, David Johnston, “Everybody enables superman^[sic]?”, in rec.arts.sf.written (Usenet):

     The thought once occured^[sic] to me, that for a while they had the silver age Legion as the actual past of a grimdark iron age Legion. Which meant that in theory the grimdark adult legion could have traveled back to silver age Smallville, or the silver age Legion could have travelled back to the iron age DC "present" of the 90s.

   • 2014, Adam Roberts, Get Started in: Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

     This in turn leads through to modern 'Grimdark' writing, where nobody is honourable and Might is Right. George R.R. Martin's ongoing fantasy sequence A Song of Fire and Ice is surely the most successful and popular Grimdark fantasy.

Antonyms

• hopepunk
• noblebright

Noun

grimdark (uncountable)

1. (literature) The literary genre of speculative fiction that is dystopian, amoral, or violent.