grimly
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈɡɹɪmli/
Audio (US) (file)
Etymology 1
From Middle English grymly, grimlich, from Old English grimmliċ, corresponding to grim + -ly. Compare grimlike.
Adjective
grimly (comparative grimlier, superlative grimliest)
- (now rare) Grim-looking, grim-natured.
- 1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard:
- To hear her rant, one would have supposed, who had not seen him, that her lank-haired, grimly partner, was the prettiest youth in the county of Dublin, and that all the comely lasses in Chapelizod and the country round were sighing and setting caps at him […]
- 1973, Kyril Bonfiglioli, Don't Point That Thing at Me, Penguin (2001), page 94:
- In reality it was the most terrifying sight I had seen to date: two fried eggs decorated with ketchup, Tabasco and chopped chillis in the semblance of a pair of bloodshot eyes – I would as soon have eaten my own leg. I waved the grimly thing away.
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Derived terms
- grimliness
Etymology 2
From Middle English grymly, grimliche, from Old English grimlīċe, equivalent to grim + -ly. Cognate with Icelandic grimmliga.
Adverb
grimly (comparative more grimly, superlative most grimly)
- In a grim manner.
- Synonym: (obsolete) grisly
- 1966, James Workman, The Mad Emperor, Melbourne, Sydney: Scripts, page 63:
- He looked round and shouted grimly, "As soon as the gate is opened, you go out there - running."
- 1968, Peter Vandergeler (lyrics), “Grimly Forming”, in Conspicuous Only in Its Absence, performed by The Great Society:
- I looked out my window / The cloud was grimly forming / Waiting for the rain I saw / The one dark cloud forming
Translations
in a grim manner
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