Crossword Dictionary

GROTESQUE

grotesque, monstrous - a 
distorted and unnatural in shape or size; abnormal and hideous; "tales of grotesque serpents eight fathoms long that churned the seas"; "twisted into monstrous shapes" 

wordplays

Synonyms

hideous, homely, ill-favored, monstrous, ugly, unappealing, unattractive, unbeautiful, uncomely, unhandsome, unlovely, unpleasing, unpretty, unsightly, vile

merriam-webster

Examples

“It was something grotesque, but definitely not a skeleton.”

“It often yawns when disturbed in the daytime, gaping its mandibles in a very grotesque manner.”

“Lovely incrustations alternate with queer and grotesque figures.”

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Etymology

"wildly formed, of irregular proportions, boldly odd," c. 1600s, originally a noun (1560s), from French crotesque (16c., Modern French grotesque), from Italian grottesco, literally "of a cave," from grotta (see grotto). The explanation that the word first was used of paintings found on the walls of Roman ruins revealed by excavation (Italian pittura grottesca) is "intrinsically plausible," according to OED. Originally merely fanciful and fantastic, the sense became pejorative, "clownishly absurd, uncouth," after mid-18c. As the British name for a style of square-cut, sans-serif letter, from 1875. Related: Grotesquely; grotesqueness.

etymonline