grim

[ grim ]

adjective

, grim·mer, grim·mest.

1. stern and admitting of no appeasement or compromise:

   grim determination; grim necessity.

   Synonyms: unyielding, harsh

   Antonyms: lenient

2. of a sinister or ghastly character:

   a grim joke.

   Synonyms: dreadful, hideous, gruesome, grisly, horrid, appalling, dire, horrible, frightful

   Antonyms: attractive

3. having a harsh, surly, forbidding, or morbid air:

   a grim man but a just one; a grim countenance.

   Synonyms: hard, stern, severe

   Antonyms: gentle

4. fierce, savage, or cruel:

   War is a grim business.

   Synonyms: ruthless, ferocious

5. unpleasant or repellant:

   Scrubbing toilets is a grim task that no one likes doing.

grim

/ ɡrɪm /

adjective

1. stern; resolute

   grim determination

2. harsh or formidable in manner or appearance
3. harshly ironic or sinister

   grim laughter

4. cruel, severe, or ghastly

   a grim accident

5. archaic.
   fierce

   a grim warrior

6. informal.
   unpleasant; disagreeable
7. hold on like grim death
   to hold very firmly or resolutely

Derived Forms

• ˈgrimly, adverb
• ˈgrimness, noun

Other Words From

• grim·ly adverb
• grim·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of grim¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English; cognate with Old Saxon, Old High German grimm, Old Norse grimmr

Word History and Origins

Origin of grim¹

Old English grimm; related to Old Norse grimmr, Old High German grimm savage, Greek khremizein to neigh

Example Sentences

But the movie is more effective as a grim, involving cop thriller than it is as an ostensible statement on the Order’s reverberations in the present.

From New York Times

Despite the grim tally, Tiwana said some countries did take steps forward in protecting civic freedom and human rights this year.

From Salon

American students turned in grim results on the latest international test of math skills — adding to a large body of research showing significant academic declines since the Covid-19 pandemic began.

From New York Times

Polling for the Conservatives is grim and the party was wiped out in Wales earlier this summer at the UK general election.

From BBC

Aquarius’s group plans to sum up the problems in papers it analyzed by the end of this year; the results are “grim,” he says.

From Science Magazine

Related Words

• dogged
• ferocious
• fierce
• merciless
• relentless
• resolute
• ruthless
• unrelenting