From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishgrotesquegro‧tesque1 /ɡrəʊˈtesk $ ɡroʊ-/ ●○○ adjective 1 SHOCKunpleasant, shocking, and offensive It’s grotesque to portray peace campaigners as unpatriotic. By modern standards, the treatment of prisoners was grotesque.2 UGLYextremely ugly in a strange or unnatural way a grotesque figure with a huge head —grotesquely adverb
Examples from the Corpus
grotesque• One can only wonder At so grotesque a blunder.• The scaffolding tumbled down, burying him under a grotesque criss-cross of beams and posts.• He began to run about in front of her, to turn, to perform grotesque dance movements that were not without some grace.• I was not her troublesome doll, then, her grotesque duty.• Suddenly the grotesque figure of the hunchback Quasimodo loomed out of the darkness.• The news showed grotesque film clips of people being attacked by dogs.• The boy was twisting one side of his face in grotesque imitation of his grandfather.• In all my fatty, even grotesque innocence they consumed me, wherever I went, on whomever I smiled.• It also brings with it bad luck and a grotesque litany of deaths.• "The disease can also cause grotesque lumps under the skin, " Ketch said.• At the very least I claim to be pitiful, grotesque, or appalling.• In the bar, a single candle threw grotesque shadows across the ceiling.grotesquegrotesque2 noun 1 [countable]UGLY a picture, sculpture etc of someone who is strangely ugly2 → the grotesqueExamples from the Corpus
grotesque• The rods are carved in the form of a series of gargoyle faces and grotesques, but are harmless.• He eased inside Rosie with her pants still on, they rolled around each other like grotesques.Origin grotesque1 (1500-1600) French Old Italian (pittura) grottesca “cave painting”, from grotta; → GROTTO 