From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishgrimgrim /ɡrɪm/ ●●○ adjective 1 SERIOUS SITUATIONmaking you feel worried or unhappy SYN harsh the grim reality of rebuilding the shattered town When he lost his job, his future looked grim. Millions of Britons face the grim prospect (=something bad that will probably happen) of dearer home loans. We received the grim news in silence.2 SERIOUS PERSONlooking or sounding very serious ‘I’ll survive, ’ he said with a grim smile. The child hung on to her arm with grim determination. The police officers were silent and grim-faced.3 British English informalBAD very bad, ugly, or unpleasant The weather forecast is pretty grim. They painted a grim picture of what life used to be like there. a grim industrial town4 [not before noun] informalILL ill Juliet felt grim through the early months of her pregnancy.5 → hold/hang on for/like grim death —grimly adverb Arnold smiled grimly. —grimness noun [uncountable]
Examples from the Corpus
grim• During that drive there was much discussion about the future, which looked pretty grim.• The Bears had better start grabbing on to something, anything, as the outlook on the season suddenly turned very grim.• Their faces soot black, raccoon eyes grim, alert.• The spy-fly zipped along in her wake, down narrower, abandoned, grim alleys.• She looked grim and upset, standing silently in the corner.• the grim details of the war• a grim economic situation• A grim-faced diplomat read out the declaration of war.• a grim-faced policeman• Things look pretty grim for farmers at the moment.• The situation is grim for the innocent people, caught up in this conflict.• However, I suspect that Mains rather got some enjoyment out of appearing as some grim nemesis of the south.• The next few weeks brought more grim news, as the economic crisis began to deepen.• Even in the grimmest period, we both respond to the inner commandments that find some value here.• The next grim prospect is carnage following the PE2 results.• Two thousand car workers face the grim prospect of redundancy.• Rescue workers are continuing the grim task of searching for bodies.• As the supply of carrots dwindled, people told fewer stories, they grew grimmer, we laughed less at our conquerors.grim determination• In fact he found Patrick's grim determination not to be charmed rather amusing.• It was their grim determination that got them to the top of Mount Everest.• No words, no threats, no waste of energy, just a grim determination to do or die.Origin grim Old English grimm 