grimmer; grimmest
1
: fierce in disposition or action : savage
grim wolves
2
a
: stern or forbidding in action or appearance
a grim taskmaster
b
: somber, gloomy
grim news of the disaster
3
: ghastly, repellent, or sinister in character
a grim tale
4
: unflinching, unyielding
grim determination
grimly adverb
grimness noun

Examples of grim in a Sentence

Hikers made a grim discovery when they came across a dead body in the woods. The accident serves as a grim reminder of the dangers of drinking and driving. The prognosis is grim—doctors do not expect her to live longer than six months. He paints a grim picture of the prospects for peace. His face looked grim, and we knew his news wouldn't be good.
Recent Examples on the Web Austin cited a grim array of costs to Moscow from its campaign to subjugate Ukraine: 315,000 Russian troops killed or wounded; 20 of its medium- and large-sized naval vessels damaged or destroyed; more than $1 trillion in unrealized economic growth. Missy Ryan, Washington Post, 19 Mar. 2024 That visit from Brody’s character, who goes unnamed, was a grim sign. Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Mar. 2024 Watching Elon Musk take over Twitter, according to some former Reddit employees, appeared to fuel a grim change in Huffman. Paresh Dave, WIRED, 14 Mar. 2024 This grim story was revealed after the FBI, in a forensic investigation, unlocked the teen’s phone. Frank H. McCourt Jr., Fortune, 12 Mar. 2024 Keith hopes that news of Freedom Fields inspires animal lovers to learn more about the grim reality of animal testing. Kelli Bender, Peoplemag, 12 Mar. 2024 With its sadistic violence, taboo sexuality, and grim depiction of postwar London, Peeping Tom was a flop that essentially ended the illustrious career of director Michael Powell, falling into obscurity until Martin Scorsese rescued it and rehabilitated its reputation with a 1979 re-release. Katie Rife, EW.com, 12 Mar. 2024 For generations, Cordova's family, like others in the area, has battled cancer, a grim legacy of the atomic tests. Scott MacFarlane, CBS News, 11 Mar. 2024 Obituary spam is an especially grim type of digital piracy, where people attempt to make money by scraping and republishing death notices, sometimes on social platforms like YouTube. Kate Knibbs, WIRED, 5 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'grim.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, "fierce, savage, terrifying, repellent, violent, severe," going back to Old English grimm "fierce, savage, harsh, severe," going back to Germanic *grimma-, from earlier *gremma- (whence also Old Frisian grim, grem "fierce, severe, frightening," Old Saxon grimm "fierce, hostile, severe," Old High German grim, grimmi, Old Norse grimmr), adjective derivative from the base of *grimman- "to rage" (whence Old English & Old Saxon grimman "to rage," Old High German grimmen), probably going back to *ghrem-ne-, nasal present from an Indo-European verbal base *ghrem- "roar, rage," whence Avestan graməṇt- "raging," Greek chremetízein "to neigh, whinny," chrémisan "(they) neighed"; with zero-grade ablaut Old Church Slavic vŭzgrĭmě "thundered, roared," Lithuanian grumiù, grumė́ti "to roar, thunder"; with o-grade ablaut Germanic *gram- (whence Old English, Old Saxon & Old High German gram "angry, hostile, fierce," Old Norse gramr "anger," Old English gremman, gremian "to anger, enrage," Old High German gremmen, Old Norse gremja, Gothic gramjan), Old Church Slavic gromŭ "thunder," Greek chrómos, chrómē (Hesychius) "kind of noise, snorting, neighing," chrómados "grinding of jaws" (cf. chromis)

Note: The base *ghrem- is most likely of onomatopoeic origin, with different semantic developments in the Indo-European branch languages.

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of grim was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near grim

Cite this Entry

“Grim.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grim. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

grim

adjective
grimmer; grimmest
1
2
a
: stern in action or appearance
b
: dismal sense 1
grim news
c
3
: frightful sense 1
a grim tale
4
: unflinching, unyielding
grim determination
grimly adverb
grimness noun

More from Merriam-Webster on grim

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