Grimace

//ˈɡɹɪm.əs// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A contorted facial expression, often expressing contempt or pain.

    "Her face was twisted in a grimace of disgust."

  2. 2
    a contorted facial expression wordnet
  3. 3
    Affectation, pretence. obsolete

    "Zeluco considered all this as mere affectation and grimace, and was convinced that she would, in due time, unfold the particular mode in which she wished to be indemnified […]."

Verb
  1. 1
    To make grimaces; to distort one's face; to make faces. intransitive
  2. 2
    contort the face to indicate a certain mental or emotional state wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
acheagonizeailanguishblanchblench

Example

More examples

"Four-year-old Sam begrudgingly ate his broccoli with a grimace on his face."

Etymology

From French grimace, from Middle French grimace, from Old French grimace, grimuche, from grime (“mask”) (with the pejorative suffix -ace, from Latin -āceus), from Frankish *grīma, *grīmō (“mask”), from Proto-Germanic *grīmô (“mask, helmet”). Cognate with Old English grīma (“mask, visor, helmet, spectre, apparition”). More at grime.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.