grizzly

American  

[griz-lee] / ˈgrɪz li /

adjective

grizzlier, grizzliest

1. somewhat gray; grayish.

2. having hair that is gray; gray-haired.

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noun

grizzlies plural

1. grizzly bear.

2. a device for screening ore, consisting of a row of iron or steel bars.

grizzly British  

/ ˈɡrɪzlɪ /

adjective

1. somewhat grey; grizzled

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noun

1. See grizzly bear

Usage

Grizzly is sometimes wrongly used where grisly is meant: a grisly (not grizzly ) murder

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• grizzlies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of grizzly

First recorded in 1585–95; grizzle ¹ + -y ¹

Explanation

A grizzly is a large North American species of bear also known as a silvertip bear. When you go camping and hiking in the western United States, park rangers might teach you what to do if you see a grizzly. The grizzly bear's formal Latin name, Ursus arctos horribilis, came from confusion between grizzly and grisly, or "horrible." Grizzly bears are known for being solitary and having brown fur tipped in white or gray. The adjective grizzly probably arose from these "grizzled" or gray-colored hairs, since it describes appearing aged or old, especially because of graying hair.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

grizzly grizzlies grizzlier grizzliest

In an accompanying statement, the groups argued the rule changes could immediately harm wildlife including Florida manatees, grizzly bears, salmon and steelhead fish, bird species like rufa red knots and golden-cheeked warblers, and insect pollinators.

From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026

Elliott, 29, recently bought a restored 1987 Defender in mint green for $76,000 that “drives like a grizzly, old truck.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026

“There was a larger grizzly maybe 10 feet above me,” Crago said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 7, 2026

The huge question now is whether that changes when the Labour Party confronts the likely grizzly reality of the electorate's verdict early next month.

From BBC ● Apr. 24, 2026

It was rare for a grizzly bear to attack a person.

From "I Survived the Great Alaska Earthquake, 1964" by Lauren Tarshis

McLellan was involved in efforts to restore grizzlies in the North Cascades in Washington state and the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness Area in Montana and Idaho.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 15, 2025

For 11 games in a row now, Scotland have been salmon leaping and Ireland have been the grizzlies waiting at falls-edge to gobble them up.

From BBC ● Feb. 10, 2025

They may not be grizzlies — one hasn’t been seen in California in 100 years — but black bears aren’t always cute and cuddly.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 26, 2024

Yet the grizzlies are a hopeful story of recovery blooming in the North Cascades.

From Seattle Times ● May 6, 2024

If they would behave themselves in captivity, grizzlies would be a fabulous meat production animal.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Promotional artwork for season five seems to show a grizzlier Rick than we’ve seen before and, thus, probably some payout on the cliff hanger ending.

From Time ● Oct. 10, 2014

The bears ground the eagles with a swipe of the paw, and it only gets grizzlier from there.

From Slate ● Mar. 23, 2012

They hold to a notion of the individual that the grizzliest fur trapper west of the Missouri River 170 years ago would have found extreme.

From Salon ● May 26, 2013

Mated with the game's irresistible sweetness, the outcome is a game-world which is truly universal in its appeal – the youngest children and grizzliest hardcore gamers alike will be held equally rapt by its charms.

From The Guardian ● May 27, 2010

And when my father was a young man, somewhere up north of Sacramento, in a creek called Cache Slough, the tules was full of grizzliest He used to go in an' shoot 'em.

From The Valley of the Moon by London, Jack