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   grotesque

   /ɡrə(ʊ)ˈtɛsk/

   adjective

   • 1. comically or repulsively ugly or distorted: "a figure wearing a grotesque mask" Similar malformeddeformedmisshapenmisproportioneddistortedtwistedgnarledmangledmutilateduglyunsightlymonstroushideousfreakishunnaturalabnormalbizarreoutlandishstrangeoddpeculiarfantasticfancifulwhimsicalinformal:weirdfreakyfuglyrumhuckeryOpposite ordinarynormal
   • ▪ incongruous or inappropriate to a shocking degree: "a lifestyle of grotesque luxury" Similar outrageousmonstrousshockingastonishingpreposterousridiculousludicrousfarcicalunbelievableunthinkableincredibleinformal:crazy

   noun

   • 1. a very ugly or comically distorted figure or image: "the rods are carved in the form of a series of gargoyle faces and grotesques"
   • ▪ a style of decorative painting or sculpture consisting of the interweaving of human and animal forms with flowers and foliage.
   • 2. a family of 19th-century sans serif typefaces.

   Word Origin mid 16th century (as noun): from French crotesque (the earliest form in English), from Italian grottesca, from opera or pittura grottesca ‘work or painting resembling that found in a grotto’; ‘grotto’ here probably denoted the rooms of ancient buildings in Rome which had been revealed by excavations, and which contained murals in the grotesque style.

   Derivatives

   • 1. grotesqueness noun

   Scrabble Points: 19

   • G

     2

   • R

     1

   • O

     1

   • T

     1

   • E

     1

   • S

     1

   • Q

     10

   • U

     1

   • E

     1

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