grimly

American  

[grim-lee] / ˈgrɪm li /

adverb

1. in a stern, sinister, fierce, or forbidding way.

   The mood has turned bleak here as the populace prepares grimly for a period of prolonged hardship and, they fear, war.

   For many years, art was forbidden in the country unless it was grimly, dully figurative or a gaudy mural glorifying the dictator’s regime.

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Etymology

Origin of grimly

First recorded before 1000; grim ( def. ) + -ly ( def. )

Example Sentences

Neither of us knew what the other was dealing with until years later, when, as adults, we were able to laugh grimly over our late arrival to a world of clothes that actually fit.

From Salon • Jun. 12, 2026

It’s an agonizing loss that’s getting grimly compared with Atlanta’s 28-3 Super Bowl collapse to the Patriots.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 11, 2026

Its resilient population is grimly united behind the war effort.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 18, 2026

By 1929 Vincent Sheean, an American journalist, was describing Jerusalem in a way that is grimly familiar to reporters there almost a century later.

From BBC • Jun. 8, 2025

“Something has activated the sentinels,” she said grimly.

From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia

Related Words

• brutally
• firmly
• powerfully