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Synonyms

grim

American  
[grim] / grɪm /

adjective

grimmer, grimmest

  1. stern and admitting of no appeasement or compromise.

    grim determination; grim necessity.
    Synonyms:
    unyielding, harsh
    Antonyms:
    lenient

  2. of a sinister or ghastly character.

    a grim joke.
    Synonyms:
    dreadful, hideous, gruesome, grisly, horrid, appalling, dire, horrible, frightful
    Antonyms:
    attractive

  3. having a harsh, surly, forbidding, or morbid air.

    a grim man but a just one; a grim countenance.
    Synonyms:
    hard, stern, severe
    Antonyms:
    gentle

  4. fierce, savage, or cruel.

    War is a grim business.
    Synonyms:
    ruthless, ferocious

  5. unpleasant or repellant.

    Scrubbing toilets is a grim task that no one likes doing.
grim British  
/ ɡrɪm /

adjective

  1. stern; resolute

    grim determination

  2. harsh or formidable in manner or appearance

  3. harshly ironic or sinister

    grim laughter

  4. cruel, severe, or ghastly

    a grim accident

  5. archaic fierce

    a grim warrior

  6. informal unpleasant; disagreeable

  7. to hold very firmly or resolutely

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • grimly adverb
  • grimness noun

Etymology

Origin of grim

First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English; cognate with Old Saxon, Old High German grimm, Old Norse grimmr

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

But, as the forensic evidence in a new documentary shows, Williams' words were a story concocted to hide the grim truth.

From BBC

Things are looking a little less grim for Americans straining to afford a home, with mortgage rates dipping below 6% for the first time in years.

From The Wall Street Journal

In our alleged golden age of TV, comedy has been Cordelia, the disenfranchised child of a grim medium.

From The Wall Street Journal

By autumn of 1860, Americans struggled with the spread of armed conflicts over slavery, and American newspapers reflected the country’s grim mood.

From Literature

The failure rate for startups is pretty grim.

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.