grimly

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English[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈɡɹɪmli/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɪmli

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English grymly, grimlich, from Old English grimmliċ, corresponding to grim +‎ -ly. Compare grimlike.

Adjective[edit]

grimly (comparative grimlier, superlative grimliest)

  1. (now rare) Grim-looking, grim-natured.
    • 1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard:
      To hear her rant, one would have supposed, who had not seen him, that her lank-haired, grimly partner, was the prettiest youth in the county of Dublin, and that all the comely lasses in Chapelizod and the country round were sighing and setting caps at him […]
    • 1973, Kyril Bonfiglioli, Don't Point That Thing at Me, Penguin, published 2001, page 94:
      In reality it was the most terrifying sight I had seen to date: two fried eggs decorated with ketchup, Tabasco and chopped chillis in the semblance of a pair of bloodshot eyes – I would as soon have eaten my own leg. I waved the grimly thing away.
Derived terms[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

From Middle English grymly, grimliche, from Old English grimlīċe, equivalent to grim +‎ -ly. Cognate with Icelandic grimmliga.

Adverb[edit]

grimly (comparative more grimly, superlative most grimly)

  1. In a grim manner.
    Synonym: (obsolete) grisly
    • 1966, James Workman, The Mad Emperor, Melbourne, Sydney: Scripts, page 63:
      He looked round and shouted grimly, "As soon as the gate is opened, you go out there - running."
    • 1968, “Grimly Forming”, in Peter Vandergeler (lyrics), Conspicuous Only in Its Absence, performed by The Great Society:
      I looked out my window / The cloud was grimly forming / Waiting for the rain I saw / The one dark cloud forming
Translations[edit]
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