grotesque

UK: /grəʊˈtɛsk/ US: /groʊˈtɛsk/ ,(grō tesk′)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

gro•tesque /groʊˈtɛsk/   adj. 

1. odd or unnatural in shape, appearance, or character;
   fantastically ugly or absurd;
   bizarre:
   a grotesque statue of a human head on top of a lion's body.

gro•tesque•ly, adv. 

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

gro•tesque  (grō tesk′), adj. 

1. odd or unnatural in shape, appearance, or character;
   fantastically ugly or absurd;
   bizarre.
2. fantastic in the shaping and combination of forms, as in decorative work combining incongruous human and animal figures with scrolls, foliage, etc.

n. 

3. any grotesque object, design, person, or thing.

• Italian grottesco (as noun, nominal, grottesca grotesque decoration such as was apparently found in excavated dwellings), derivative of grotta. See grotto, -esque
• French
• 1555–65

gro•tesque′ly, adv. 
gro•tesque′ness, n. 
Synonyms

• 1. distorted, deformed, weird, antic, wild. See fantastic. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

grotesque / ɡrəʊˈtɛsk/ adjective

1. strangely or fantastically distorted; bizarre
2. of or characteristic of the grotesque in art
3. absurdly incongruous; in a ludicrous context

noun

1. a 16th-century decorative style in which parts of human, animal, and plant forms are distorted and mixed
2. a decorative device, as in painting or sculpture, in this style
3. the family of 19th-century sans serif display types
4. any grotesque person or thing

Etymology: 16th Century: from French, from Old Italian (pittura) grottesca cave painting, from grottesco of a cave, from grotta cave; see grotto

groˈtesquely adverb

groˈtesqueness noun