grim
Americanadjective
-
stern and admitting of no appeasement or compromise.
grim determination; grim necessity.
- Synonyms:
- unyielding, harsh
- Antonyms:
- lenient
-
of a sinister or ghastly character.
a grim joke.
- Antonyms:
- attractive
-
having a harsh, surly, forbidding, or morbid air.
a grim man but a just one; a grim countenance.
- Antonyms:
- gentle
-
fierce, savage, or cruel.
War is a grim business.
-
unpleasant or repellant.
Scrubbing toilets is a grim task that no one likes doing.
adjective
-
stern; resolute
grim determination
-
harsh or formidable in manner or appearance
-
harshly ironic or sinister
grim laughter
-
cruel, severe, or ghastly
a grim accident
-
archaic fierce
a grim warrior
-
informal unpleasant; disagreeable
-
to hold very firmly or resolutely
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of grim
First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English; cognate with Old Saxon, Old High German grimm, Old Norse grimmr
Explanation
Things that are gloomy, stark, ghastly, and somber are grim. Sunshine, puppies, and rainbows are not grim; zombies, reapers, and mummies are grim. Less scary things like drizzly, foggy days can also be called grim. Two famous uses of the adjective grim are the Grim Reaper and Grimm's Fairy Tales. Mr. Reaper shows up in movies and books wearing a long, hooded black cape and carrying a scythe, or long-handled blade used, in less grim circumstances, for mowing grass and reaping grain: he represents death. The real-life German brothers wrote some bone-chilling tales under their own name, Grimm, meaning "cruel, fierce," which is related to the English word grim. Modern grim things include crime-drama images of dead bodies and characters in horror movies.
Vocabulary lists containing grim
The SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words, List 4
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The New SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words
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More Negative Words to Describe a Person
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
It’s witty, but not grim; accurate but also imaginative.
From Salon ● Nov. 1, 2026
This year, they ramped up their home display, deploying a grim reaper, a zombie, animal skeletons and Oogie Boogie from “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
This question has been asked so many times now - and it's grim that it still has to be asked.
From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026
Still, the overall picture is grim for Iran’s economy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026
He was not even wearing his grim go-to-sea look.
From "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch" by Jean Lee Latham
Reports David has heard from clients in Cameroon are even grimmer: the IOM has refused to facilitate medical care for some detainees, the lawyer said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 7, 2026
Each morning that Venezuelans wake to the aftermath of the dual earthquakes, it is a little darker, a little grimmer.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
That’s a turnaround from their much grimmer forecasts last fall.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 20, 2026
Disney’s latest animated film, “Zootopia 2,” a sequel to its 2016 box-office juggernaut, isn’t exactly an adult political drama, though the stakes certainly feel grimmer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 25, 2025
If anything, he sounded grimmer than he had sounded on the Henry.
From "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch" by Jean Lee Latham
When asked about the economy in surveys, people are reporting one of the grimmest economic moods on record.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026
It’s a showdown on the edge of an abyss or, from a blackly comic point of view, the grimmest edition ever of that old surprise-reunion show “This Is Your Life.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2025
Behind the scenes, his producers eagerly exploited the grimmest episodes of vulnerable people’s lives, never disabusing them of the false assumption that appearing on “Springer” would somehow help them.
From Salon ● Jan. 7, 2025
For now, however, the grimmest of eventualities may have been avoided—all thanks to a mixture of luck and Icelandic proactivity.
From National Geographic ● Dec. 19, 2023
Penelope smiled, then beamed, then laughed aloud, for even the grimmest Giddy-Yap, Rainbow! book had joy to spare.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
