First recorded in 1970–75; noun use of verb phrase gross out
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Ms. Sherman’s body-horror aesthetic has been compared to filmmaker David Cronenberg’s, though gross-out comedy is hardly new.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 11, 2025
Writer and director Emilie Blichfeldt's gross-out masterpiece "The Ugly Stepsister" jumps off the premise: "What if the story of Cinderella was really really gross?"
From Salon • Apr. 7, 2025
Although the story loses steam as it nears the finish, unable to clearly flesh out what the madness means, the trip there is paved with gross-out mayhem.
From New York Times • Jul. 21, 2023
A good gross-out gag is hardly a novelty in mainstream comedies, but there’s one in “Joy Ride” that made my stomach almost — almost — flip in solidarity.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 6, 2023
I think this: Better I am a sweater than a gross-out.
From "The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle" by Leslie Connor
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
