grimace
Americannoun
verb (used without object)
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
has grimacedperfect 3rd person singular
-
have grimacedperfect
-
has been grimacingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
-
is grimacingprogressive 3rd person singular
-
am grimacingprogressive 1st person singular
-
have been grimacingperfect progressive
-
grimacingparticiple
-
are grimacingprogressive
-
grimacessingular 3rd person
Past
-
had grimacedperfect
-
was grimacingprogressive singular
-
grimacedparticiple
-
had been grimacingperfect progressive
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grimacedsimple
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were grimacingprogressive plural
Future
Etymology
Origin of grimace
First recorded in 1645–55; from French, ultimately from Frankish grima (unrecorded) “mask” ( cf. grim, grime) + -azo, from Latin -āceus -aceous
Explanation
The grimace on her face when he asked her to the prom told him her answer was "no" before she said a word. A grimace is a facial expression that usually suggests disgust or pain, but sometimes comic exaggeration. Picture someone wrinkling his nose, squeezing his eyes shut, and twisting his mouth and you'll have a pretty solid mental image of a grimace. It can be a verb, as in "the class grimaced at the teacher's suggestion of a pop quiz." Or it words as a noun. "The class gave a grimace when the teacher suggested a pop quiz." Its forerunner was the 17th century Spanish grimazo, meaning caricature, and grima, meaning fright.
Vocabulary lists containing grimace
The Outsiders
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Hatchet
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"The Monkey's Paw" by W. W. Jacobs
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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.
For Americans who grimace at the thought of “big government,” this distanced Social Security from public assistance or welfare.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 30, 2026
“I know where it is,” he said through the grimace.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 7, 2026
Charles, who responded with a playful grimace, quipped: "Yes well, all that's left of him anyway."
From BBC • Sep. 21, 2025
“I think that smile, it wasn’t like a — it was like an ‘ooh’, you know, like, one of those,” Cunningham said, making a grimace.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 20, 2025
If it wasn’t for the grimace, I’d think she didn’t even hear me.
From "Five Feet Apart" by Rachael Lippincott
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.
