Lexic.us

Definition of Grotesque

1. Adjective. Distorted and unnatural in shape or size; abnormal and hideous. "Twisted into monstrous shapes"

2. Noun. Art characterized by an incongruous mixture of parts of humans and animals interwoven with plants.

3. Adjective. Ludicrously odd. "A grotesque reflection in the mirror"

Definition of Grotesque

1. a. Like the figures found in ancient grottoes; grottolike; wildly or strangely formed; whimsical; extravagant; of irregular forms and proportions; fantastic; ludicrous; antic.

2. n. A whimsical figure, or scene, such as is found in old crypts and grottoes.

Definition of Grotesque

1. Adjective. distorted and unnatural in shape or size; abnormal and hideous ¹

2. Adjective. disgusting or otherwise viscerally reviling. ¹

3. Adjective. (typography) sans serif. ¹

4. Noun. A style of ornamentation characterized by fanciful combinations of intertwined forms. ¹

5. Noun. Anything grotesque. ¹

6. Noun. (typography) A sans serif typeface. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Grotesque

1. [n -S]

Lexicographical Neighbors of Grotesque

grossite grossly grossness grossnesses grosso modo grossular grossularia grossularite grossularites grossulars

grossulin grosz grosze groszy grot grotesque (current term) grotesquely grotesqueness grotesquenesses grotesquerie

grotesqueries grotesquery grotesques grots grottier grottiest grotto grottoed grottoes grottolike

Literary usage of Grotesque

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Stones of Venice by John Ruskin (1906)
"APPENDIX I.» grotesque RENAISSANCE. § 52. WHEN I spoke of the kinds of art which were produced for the recreation of the lower orders, I only spoke of forms ..."

2. Modern Painters by John Ruskin (1857)
"But, be this as it may, the discussion of the grotesque element belonged most properly ... The grotesque is in that chapter* divided principally into three ..."

3. A Musical Motley by Ernest Newman (1919)
"I am not sure that everyone will agree with him in linking the grotesque in ... That comes, I think, from regarding the grotesque too much from the point of ..."

4. The Bookman (1903)
"BARBARISM AND THE CHOLERA INVADING EL'ROI'E IN of the grotesque hunchback ... to day in new and ever grotesque situations were hailed with growing delight. ..."

5. The Quarterly Review by William Gifford, George Walter Prothero, John Gibson Lockhart, John Murray, Whitwell Elwin, John Taylor Coleridge, Rowland Edmund Prothero Ernle, William Macpherson, William Smith (1866)
"A History of Caricature and grotesque in Literature and Art. By Thomas Wright, Esq. ; with Illustrations from various sources, drawn and engraved by FW ..."

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