▪ I. † grim, n. Obs.
Also grym(e.
[f. grim a.; cf. Du. and MHG. grim (G. grimm) masc.; also OHG. grimmî (MHG. and M.Du. grimme) fem.]
Grimness, fury, rage.
| 13.. Sir Beues 1880 (MS. A), Thus beginneth grim to growe. 1340–70 Alex. & Dind. 50 Þei were a-grisen of his gryme & wende gref þolie. c 1400 Destr. Troy 7770 Then the grekes with grym there gedurt þere hertes. c 1400 Ywaine & Gaw. 1661 To him he stirt, with birful grim, His bow and arwes reft he him. c 1470 Harding Chron. cxxxviii. xiii, The Sarasyns also he slewe with muche gryme. |
▪ II. grim, a. and adv.
(grɪm)
Forms: 1 grim(m, 3 grimm, 3–7 grimme, 4–5 gryme, 4–6 grime, grym(me, 3– grim.
[OE. grim(m) = OFris. grim, OS. grim (Du. grim), OHG. and MHG. grim (G. grimm), ON. grimmr (Sw. grym harsh, Da. grim ugly). Ormin employs a disyllabic form grimme, corresponding to OHG. grimmi, MHG. grimme. The OTeut. root *grem- is an ablaut-variant of *gram-; see grame a.]
A. adj.
1. Of persons or animals: Fierce, cruel, savage or harsh in disposition or action. Also, in weaker sense, daring, determined, bold. Occas. const. with, against, or with dat. (Now merged in sense 4.)
| Beowulf (Z.) 121 Wiht un-hælo grim ond grædiᵹ ᵹearo sona wæs reoc ond reþe. 971 Blickl. Hom. 63 Ne þearf he..wenan..þæs freondes þe hine æfre of þæs grimman deofles ᵹewealdum alesan mæᵹe. c 1200 Ormin 8246 He Wass ifell mann wiþþ alle..& grimme wiþþ þe leode. a 1225 Ancr. R. 280 He iseih hu ueole þe grimme wrastlare of helle breid up on his hupe. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 466/164 Giwes weren proute and grimme. a 1300 Cursor M. 11613 Iesus..lighted of his moder kne, And stod a-pon þaa bestes grim. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 145 Þe houndes of þat londe beeþ so greete, so grym, and stronge þat þey þroweþ doun boles and sleeþ lyouns. c 1430 Hymns Virg. 52 Quod Dauid, ‘we spoken of oon so grym Þat schulde breke þe brasen ȝatis’. c 1450 Cov. Myst. (Shaks. Soc.) 230 The Jewys ageyn the were grym & grylle. 1513 Douglas æneis iii. ix. 108 And fer out fra my cavern did espy The gryme Ciclopes. 1624 Capt. Smith Virginia iii. v. 55 The first people we saw were two grim and stout Salvages. 1635 Swan Spec. M. viii. §2 (1643) 404 The shrill voice of this commanding fowl [the Cock], will keep in aw the grimme and fierce Lion. 1637 Milton Lycidas 128 What the grim Woolf with privy paw Daily devours apace. [1726–46 Thomson Winter 394 Bony, and gaunt, and grim, Assembling wolves in raging troops descend.] |
| absol. c 1400 Destr. Troy 880 Hit [fyre] gird from the grym with so gret hete. c 1450 Holland Howlat 369 He bure a lyon as lord..Of pure gold was the ground, quhar the grym hovit. 1535 Lyndesay Satyre 4465 The feind ressaue that graceles grim! |
† b. Fiercely angry. Obs.
| 971 Blickl. Hom. 25 He him æt his ende grim ᵹeweorþeþ and hine ᵹelædeþ on ece forwyrd. c 1205 Lay. 15566 Þa wes swiðe grim Dinabuȝ touward Mærlin. 13.. K. Alis. 754 Now is the kyng wroth and grym, Who schal beo kyng after him. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 94 God is þe turned grym, Ouþer in word or dede has þou greued him. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints, Adrian 39 Þar-at richt gryme wes þe king. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 5657 Þe mare he besoght him..Þe langer he wax mare grym. 1535 Coverdale Zeph. ii. 11 The Lorde shall be grymme vpon them, and destroye all the goddes in the londe. |
2. Of personal actions, character, feelings, or utterances. a. Fierce, furious, cruel (obs. or arch.). b. In mod. use: Stern, unrelenting, merciless; resolute, uncompromising.
| a 1000 Byrhtnoth 61 (Gr.) Us sceal ord and ecg ær ᵹeseman, grim guðpleᵹa, ær we gofol syllon. c 1200 Ormin 672 Deofell iss..Off grimme & niþfull herrte. c 1205 Lay. 2283 Moni grimne reas..Þolede ich on solde bi-foren Brutone. a 1225 Ancr. R. 100 Þis is a cruel word, & a grim word mid alle. a 1300 Cursor M. 471 Again him gaf a batell grim. 13.. Propr. Sanct. (Vernon MS.) in Archiv Stud. neu. Spr. LXXXI. 304/101 Þer he dronk wiþ wille grym Bitter atter and eke venym. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 335 Also þis Lanfrank tredede and bylad kyng William conquerour by an holy craft, nouȝt wiþ grym chidynge, but somtyme in good merþe. c 1400 Melayne 678 There was none oþer haylsynge Bot stowte wordes and grym. c 1460 Launfal 461 He smot to Launfal..Well sterne strokes, and well grym. 1535 Coverdale Nahum i. 6 Who is able to abyde his grymme displeasure? 1605 Shakes. Macb. v. ii. 4 Their deere causes Would to the bleeding and the grim Alarme Excite the mortified man. 1667 Milton P.L. vi. 236 To..open when, and when to close The ridges of grim Warr. 1678 Bunyan Pilgr. i. 151 With a grim and surly voice he [Giant Despair] bid them awake. 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xv, She..sat with grim determination, up⁓right as a darning-needle stuck in a board. a 1853 Robertson Lect. i. (1858) 95 An age of grim earnestness. 1863 Geo. Eliot Romola lx, A man's own safety is a god that some⁓times makes very grim demands. 1865 Kingsley Herew. xix. 244 Then began a murder grim and great. 1877 Mrs. Oliphant Makers Flor. xv. 377 The Forentines..prepared to do grim battle for their liberties. 1879 G. W. Kitchin in Encycl. Brit. IX. 549/2 The King's bodyguard, on whom fell ever the grimmest of the fighting, suffered terribly. |
3. Of pain, wounds, diseases, painful or destructive conditions: Cruel, terribly severe. Now only in weakened sense: cf. 2 b and 4 b.
| c 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. i. xiv. (1890) 50 Þa com..mycel wol & grim ofer þa ᵹehwyrfdon modes men. 971 Blickl. Hom. 213 Wæs se winter..to þæs grim þæt maniᵹ man his feorh for cyle ᵹesealde. 11.. O.E. Chron. an. 1005 (Laud MS.) On þyssum ᵹeare wæs se mycla hungor ᵹeond Angelcynn swilce nan man ær ne ᵹemunde swa grimne. c 1200 Ormin 1442 Crist..Drah harrd & hefiȝ pine inoh þurrh fife grimme wundess. c 1300 Havelok 155 He..preyden Cristes hore, That he [wolde] turnen him Vt of that yuel that was so grim! c 1400 Destr. Troy 907 The dragon..gird him agayne with a grym noyse. c 1435 Torr. Portugal 981 Mo than fyfty had he slayne With gryme wounddes and sare. c 1450 Myrc 1561 For yef the synne be gret or grym. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. (1858) I. 303 Quhilk sall nocht schrink quhair nakit swardis ar drawin..Or for na grym wound other grym or grow. 1658 A. Fox tr. Wurtz' Surg. ii. xiv. 110 Many times there is a grim anger in the Hand or Finger. 1667 Milton P.L. ii. 170 What if the breath that kindl'd those grim fires, Awak'd should blow them into sevenfold rage? a 1716 South Serm. (1744) IX. vi. 185 And then, whether it would not be the grimmest dispensation that ever befell him. 1814 Scott Ld. of Isles iii. xxiii, Wind and weather wax'd so grim. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. i. xiii, ‘This is becoming grim’, said Eugene in a low voice. 1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus xxi. 11 Now shall beauty to thirst be train'd or hunger's Grim necessity. |
† b. Of weapons or destructive agencies: Cruel, formidable. to wend to the grim tooth: to have recourse to harsh measures. Obs.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 218 [He] makeð him swuðe sterne, & went to þene grimme toð. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1553 Al hit frayes my flesche þe fyngres so grymme. Ibid. 1696 Ful grymme clawres Þat were croked and kene. 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 2261 Gederez vp hys grymme tole, Gawayn to smyte. c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame ii. 33 With hys grym pawes strong..Me..he hente. 1470–85 Malory Arthur ii. xv, Thenne kyng Pellam cauȝt in his hand a grym wepen. |
4. Formidable in appearance or demeanour; of stern, forbidding or harsh aspect, suggesting a cruel or unbending disposition. † Also, in weaker sense, hard-featured, ugly.
| 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 2250 Þe devel þat es grisely and grym, Til hym come. c 1394 P. Pl. Crede 222 A greet cherl & a grym, growen as a tonne. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 212/1 Grym, or sterne.., austerus, rigidus. c 1450 Merlin 339 The Geaunte was so grym a figure that he was dredefull for to beholde. 1513 Douglas æneis v. i. 67 A beir skyn of Affrik aboun his weid, Full grym of luik, with dartes kene and rude. 1535 Coverdale Dan. ii. 31 A greate ymage, whose fygure was maruelous greate, and his vysage grymme [Vulg. terribilis]. 1587 Turberv. Trag. T. (1837) 31 Whose face was grimme, and he in blacke yclad. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. ii. i. 256 Then was Venus like her mother, for her father is but grim. 1641 Denham Sophy iv. i, He..that dares to die, May laugh at the grim face of law. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 146 Like their grisly Prince appears his gloomy Race: Grim, ghastly, rugged. 1703 Rowe Fair Penit. v. i. 1720 How Pale he looks! How Grim with clotted Blood and those dead Eyes. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xxvi, It threw a stronger gleam upon the grim and sallow countenance of Barnardine. 1808 Scott Marm. iii. xx, Norweyan warriors grim. Ibid. xxi, Vigil and fast had worn him grim. 1827 Pollok Course T. viii, On their grim features, now, The plain unvisored index of the soul. 1838 J. L. Stephens Trav. Greece, etc. 107/1 The commandant, a grim, gaunt-looking figure about fifty. 1862 Burton Bk. Hunter 396 Grim and ghastly human figures. |
b. of things personified, esp. of death. Phr. to hold on, cling, etc. like grim death.
| 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. v. i. 80 Moodie and dull melancholly Kinsman to grim and comfortlesse despaire. 1596 ― Tam. Shr. Induct. i. 35 Grim death, how foule and loath⁓some is thine image. 1635 Quarles Embl. iii. xi. (1718) 170 Mine eye Shall scorn grim death, although grim death stand by. c 1680 Beveridge Serm. (1729) I. 249 Can we look grim death in the face? 1713 Addison Cato ii. iv, Doubling the native horror of the war And making death more grim. 1816 Shelley Alastor 608 The very winds, Danger's grim playmates, on that precipice Slept. 1847 G. Bloomfield Remin. (1883) I. x. 263 There was nothing for it but to hold on like grim death, and be shaken to pieces. 1865 Trollope Belton Est. ix. 101 People must eat and drink even when the grim monarch is in the house. |
c. of looks or aspect.
| 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 2233 Ful hydus sightes þai [the devils] sal shew hym Þat his chere sal make grisly and grym. c 1450 Merlin 44 A man of a grym chere. 1564 Haward Eutropius ii. 15 After they were dead keping stil theyr grim lokes. 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. viii. 32 For shame, but more for feare of his grim sight, Downe in her lap she hid her face. 1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. iii. v. Wks. 1856 I. 115, I will..Outstare the terror of thy grimme aspect. 1697 Evelyn Numism. ix. 306 A grim and crabbed look. 1823 Galt Entail I. iii. 18 Tremendous forms, in warlike attitudes and with grim aspects. 1838 Dickens Nich. Nick. xv, With a grim and ghastly stare. 1863 Geo. Eliot Romola i, This city of yours turns a grim look on me just here. |
d. absol. or quasi-n. = grimness.
| 1845 Carlyle Cromwell (1871) IV. 70 Faces settling into permanent grim. |
5. transf. Of things, scenes, situations, etc.: Harsh or repellent of aspect; uninviting.
| [13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 1069 Þ e mone may þer of acroche no myȝte To spotty, ho is of body to grym.] 1820 Scott Monast. v, The very crags and scaurs seemed higher and grimmer. 1839 tr. Lamartine's Trav. East 78/1 On slopes, somewhat less grim, vine-plants are seen. 1860 Hawthorne Marb. Faun (1879) I. xxv. 252 In a grim old vaulted apartment. 1871 L. Stephen Playgr. Europe iii. (1894) 82 The great Oberland peaks..stand round in a grim circle. 1877 Black Green Past. xxxii. (1878) 260 We bade farewell to this gay haunt of pleasure and set out for grimmer latitudes. |
b. absol. or quasi-n.
| 1840 Galt Demon Destiny, etc. 73, I..often wonder'd in the grim of night, To what dread land the dead-man did invite. |
6. Of stern or sinister import.
| 1873 Ouida Pascarèl I. 4 A monarch yesterday, to-day a scape-goat, in grimmest ironic symbol of all human histories. 1889 Jessopp Coming of Friars ii. 81 A saying that had a grim truth in it. |
7. Of laughter, jests, humour: Stern, implying no relenting or softening. In recent use often: Dealing with ghastly or painful subjects.
| 1641 Milton Animadv. Pref., Such a grim laughter, as may appear at the same time in an austere visage. 1823 Scott Quentin D. xxvi, One of those grim smiles, of which it was impossible to say, whether it meant good or harm. 1833 H. Martineau Loom & Lugger ii. v. 106 Before the crowd had quite ended their grim pastime. 1850 Carlyle Latter-d. Pamph. iv. 4 Our friend in grim banter would reply: ‘Reform a Popedom,—hardly’. 1868 Milman St. Paul's xiv. 352 One of those grim pleasantries in which Oliver took delight. 1869 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) III. xii. 162 Mingled with all this there is a certain element of grim merriment. |
8. Comb., as grim-cheeked, grim-faced, grim-featured, grim-looked, grim-looking, grim-visaged, grim-whiskered adjs.; † grim-sightedness. Also † grim-face = grimace n.
| 1601 Marston Pasquil & Kath. ii. 94 The siluer Ensigne of the *grimme-cheekt night. |
| 1671 Crowne Juliana i. 9 [Stage direction] Landlord squints, and makes *grim-faces. |
| 1610 R. Niccols Eng. Eliza in Mirr. Mag. 863 Like the *grim-fac'd God of war. 1833 H. Martineau Charmed Sea v. 74 Groups of grim-faced miners. |
| 1811 W. R. Spencer Poems 121 He thinks his new porter, *grim-featur'd Suspicion. |
| 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. v. i. 171 O *grim look't night, o night with hue so blacke. |
| 1844 Lever T. Burke II. 166 A *grim-looking, hard-featured man. 1878 J. Buller 40 Years N. Zealand i. i. 24 This stormy and grim-looking islet. |
| 1648 Hexham Dutch Dict. (1660), Grim-sichtigheydt, *Grim-sightednesse, Severitie, or Austere-lookes. |
| 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, i. i. 9 *Grim-visag'd Warre, hath smooth'd his wrinkled Front. 1848 Buckley Iliad 191 A grim-visaged Gorgon. |
| 1780 Mickle Let. 15 Aug. in Lit. Panorama (1809) V. 1174 *Grim-whiskered soldiers, tearing children from their mothers and killing them. |
B. adv. (OE. grimme) or quasi-adv. In a grim manner or mood; fiercely, savagely, horribly. In later use only to look grim, where grim is perh. adjectival.
| c 893 K. Alfred Oros. i. ii. §1 Hy him æfter þæm grimme forguldon þone wiᵹcræft þe hy æt him ᵹeleornodon. a 1000 Cædmon's Gen. 1275 (Gr.) He..þohte forgripan gumcynne grimme and sare. a 1300 Cursor M. 14668 Þai loked on him lath and grim. a 1300 E.E. Psalter civ. 18 Irne thurgh-yhode his saule ful grim. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 133 Whan þe fader wist þe sonne wild werre on him, I blame him not if him list turne ageyn fulle grim. c 1400 Sowdone Bab. 3129 He loked on her al grymme As he wode wroth wer. 14.. Siege Jerusalem (E.E.T.S.) 10/165 Þer is no gome in þis [grounde] þat is grym wounded. c 1450 Holland Howlat 53 He grat grysly grym, and gaif a gret ȝowle. 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. i. 50 So stood Sir Scudamour when this he heard, Ne word he had to speake for great dismay, But lookt on Glauce grim. 1675 Hobbes Odyss. (1677) 293 Round about he lookt upon us grim. |
b. Comb., as grim-blue, grim frowning, grim-grinning, grim-rising, grim-set, grim-white adjs.
| 1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 155 Thus chides she Death, Grim-grinning ghost. 1786 Burns Addr. Edin. v, Thy pond'rous wall and massy bar, Grim-rising o'er the rugged rock. 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. ii. ix. (1838) 219 Round some Schreckhorn, as yet grim-blue, would the eddying vapour gather..in the clear sunbeam your Schreckhorn stood smiling grim-white. 1881 H. Phillips tr. Chamisso's Faust 15 Steep, grim-frowning, rugged chasms. 1885 Fitzpatrick Life T. N. Burke I. 20 note, The grim-set, clenched aspect of the faces. |
▸ grim reaper n. (also with capital initials) death (or a cause of death) personified, typically as a cloaked skeleton wielding a large scythe; chiefly with the; cf. reaper n. 1b.
| 1847 Fond du Lac (Wisconsin) Whig 1 Apr. 1/4 Famine, the *grim reaper, is gathering a horrible human harvest. 1910E. Ferber in Everybody's Nov. 608/1 ‘If I ain't there, you'll know that I passed away during the night, and you can telephone the clerk to break in my door.’ The Grim Reaper spared him, and Sam came, and was introduced to the family, and ate. 2004 Loaded Mar. 156/1 The only thing separating a BASE jumper from the grim reaper making a premature visit is a parachute. |
▪ III. grim, v.
(grɪm)
Also 6 grimme, Sc. grym.
[In sense 1, ad. Du. or G. grimmen (OS. and OE. grimman), f. grim(m adj. grim. In sense 2, f. grim a.]
† 1. intr. To be angry, look fierce. Const. at, on, to. Obs.
| a 1400–50 Alexander 4653 Ne nothire gesse we vs godis ne grym at oure driȝtin. 1481 Caxton Reynard (Arb.) 35 Thenne grimmed he, and was angry on me. 1484 ― Curiall 2 b, Now she lawheth to one and she grimmeth to other. 1530 Palsgr. 575/1, I grimme, I make a foule countenaunce, je grongne. 1535 [see grim a. 3]. [1848 Lytton K. Arthur viii. lvi, Black from a brazen flag, with outstretched wings Grimmed the dread Raven of the Runic kings. Note. Grimm'd, from the verb grimmen.] |
2. trans. To make grim or fierce; to cause to look grim; to give a grim look to.
| 1710 Brit. Apollo III. No. 26. 3/1 There Small-Cole one Cries..And looks Ugly and Grimm'd like a Witch. 1808 J. Barlow Columb. iii. 527 Grimm'd by the horrors of the dreadful night, The hosts woke fiercer for the promised fight. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. II. v. viii, Bailly and his Feuillants..had to withdraw.. into lurid half-light, grimmed by the shadow of that Red Flag of theirs. 1840 Galt Demon of Destiny ii. 13 The sculptured effigies That grim the silence of chivalric aisles. |