grizzly

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡɹɪzli/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪzli
• Homophone: grisly

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

English grizzle

Proto-Indo-European *-kos

Proto-Germanic *-gaz

Proto-West Germanic *-g

Old English -iġ

Middle English -y

English -y

English grizzly

From grizzle + -y.

Adjective

grizzly (comparative grizzlier, superlative grizzliest)

1. Grey-haired, greyish.

   Synonyms: grizzled, grisly (obsolete), hoary; see also Thesaurus:elderly, Thesaurus:grey-haired

2. Misspelling of grisly.
   • 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Age and Youth”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 10:

     The walls were entirely hidden by bookshelves, or by cases containing rare specimens of fossil bones and reptile skeletons. Here was a grizzly crocodile, its teeth white and sharp as when they glistened in the waters of the Nile;...

   • 2009 February 5, Campbell Brown, “Commentary: Pakistan gives in to terrorists”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     This after Taliban militants led a grizzly campaign of attacks, including beheadings, kidnappings and the destruction of dozens of girls' schools.

Usage notes

• Not to be confused with grisly or gristly.

Derived terms

• grizzly bear

Related terms

• silver-haired, silvery-haired
• white-haired

Noun

grizzly (plural grizzlies)

2. A grizzly bear.

   Shotgun blast kills charging grizzly!

   • 2026 September 16, Dickon Ross, “Animal tracks”, in RAIL, number 1070, page 3:

     Dozens of grizzlies and hundreds of moose have been killed by train strikes this decade in British Columbia alone.

4. (Canada, US, dialect, mining) A grating used to sieve stones by size, so as to keep stones out of the sluices (in hydraulic mining) or to control stone size in the feed to the ore crusher.

Derived terms

• grizzlyman
• grolar
• mama grizzly
• pizzly
• prizzly

Translations

grizzly bear — see grizzly bear

Etymology 2

Adjective

grizzly (comparative grizzlier, superlative grizzliest)

1. Crying or whingeing in a bad-tempered or irritable way.

   a grizzly baby

Derived terms

• grizzliness

Translations

Crying or whinging

• Māori: hawihawi (Referring to a child)

References

• “grizzly”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “grizzly”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Czech

Alternative forms

• grizly

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English grizzly.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɡrɪzlɪ]

Noun

grizzly m anim

1. grizzly, grizzly bear

Declension

Declension of grizzly (masculine animate in -i/-y)

	singular	plural
nominative	grizzly	grizzlyové, grizzly
genitive	grizzlyho	grizzlyů, grizzlych
dative	grizzlymu	grizzlyům, grizzlym
accusative	grizzlyho	grizzlye, grizzly
vocative	grizzly	grizzlyové, grizzly
locative	grizzlym	grizzlyích, grizzlych
instrumental	grizzlym	grizzlyi, grizzlymi

Derived terms

• gryzzlí

Further reading

• “grizzly”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “grizzly”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡʁiz.li/

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

Noun

grizzly m (plural grizzlys)

1. alternative spelling of grizzli

Further reading

• “grizzly”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English grizzly.

Noun

grizzly

1. synonym of orso grizzly

Polish

grizzly

Alternative forms

• grizli

Etymology

Etymology tree

English grizzle

Proto-Indo-European *-kos

Proto-Germanic *-gaz

Proto-West Germanic *-g

Old English -iġ

Middle English -y

English -y

English grizzlyubor.

Polish grizzly

Unadapted borrowing from English grizzly.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡri.zli/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -izli
• Syllabification: grizz‧ly

Noun

grizzly m animal (indeclinable)

1. grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis)

   Synonyms: niedźwiedź grizli, niedźwiedź szary

Further reading

• “grizzly”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[2] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “grizzly”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[3] (in Polish)

Romanian

grizzly

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English grizzly.

Noun

grizzly m (plural grizzly)

1. grizzly bear (A North American subspecies, Ursus arctos horribilis, of the brown bear)

   Synonym: urs grizzly

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	grizzly	grizzly-ul	grizzly	grizzly-i
genitive-dative	grizzly	grizzly-ului	grizzly	grizzly-lor
vocative	—		—

References

“grizzly”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2026