GRIMACE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does grimace mean? 

• GRIMACE (noun)
  The noun GRIMACE has 1 sense:

1. a contorted facial expression

  Familiarity information: GRIMACE used as a noun is very rare.

• GRIMACE (verb)
  The verb GRIMACE has 1 sense:

1. contort the face to indicate a certain mental or emotional state

  Familiarity information: GRIMACE used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• GRIMACE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A contorted facial expression

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

face; grimace

Context example:

she made a grimace at the prospect

Hypernyms ("grimace" is a kind of...):

facial expression; facial gesture (a gesture executed with the facial muscles)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "grimace"):

moue; pout; wry face (a disdainful grimace)

Derivation:

grimace (contort the face to indicate a certain mental or emotional state)

• GRIMACE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they grimace    ... he / she / it grimaces   
Past simple: grimaced   
Past participle: grimaced   
-ing form: grimacing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Contort the face to indicate a certain mental or emotional state

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

grimace; make a face; pull a face

Context example:

He grimaced when he saw the amount of homework he had to do

Hypernyms (to "grimace" is one way to...):

communicate; intercommunicate (transmit thoughts or feelings)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "grimace"):

squinch; squint (cross one's eyes as if in strabismus)

wince (make a face indicating disgust or dislike)

smile (change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure)

frown; glower; lour; lower (look angry or sullen, wrinkle one's forehead, as if to signal disapproval)

screw up (twist into a strained configuration)

mop; mow; pout (make a sad face and thrust out one's lower lip)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

grimace (a contorted facial expression)

 Context examples 

I could not but smile, at which he grimaced.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Martin pocketed it with a grimace, and felt for a moment the kindly weight of Brissenden's hand upon his shoulder.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

For caresses, too, I now got grimaces; for a pressure of the hand, a pinch on the arm; for a kiss on the cheek, a severe tweak of the ear.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

She covered her ears hastily and made a wry grimace.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

A pain measurement tool that uses drawn representations of cartoon faces (of the "smiley face" variety) that rage from frowning and grimacing to smiling heartily.

(Facial Affective Scale, NCI Thesaurus)

Include frowning, blinking, grimacing of upper face.

(AIMS - Muscles of Facial Expression, NCI Thesaurus)

A subtype of schizophrenia characterized by disorganized speech, disorganized behavior, and a flat or inappropriate affect; associated features include grimacing, mannerisms, and other oddities of behavior.

(Disorganized Type Schizophrenia, NCI Thesaurus)

His honour had further observed, “that a female Yahoo would often stand behind a bank or a bush, to gaze on the young males passing by, and then appear, and hide, using many antic gestures and grimaces, at which time it was observed that she had a most offensive smell; and when any of the males advanced, would slowly retire, looking often back, and with a counterfeit show of fear, run off into some convenient place, where she knew the male would follow her.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

A subtype of cerebral palsy characterized by involuntary, purposeless writhing movements which affect the hands, feet, arms, and legs; the face and tongue may be affected as well, leading to involuntary grimacing, drooling, dysarthria and difficulty eating.

(Athetoid Cerebral Palsy, NCI Thesaurus)

He noticed my involuntary twitching and grimacing, and smirked: I only ’ope yer don’t ever ’ave to get used to such as that in this life, ’cos you’ve got a bloomin’ soft skin, that you ’ave, more like a lydy’s than any I know of.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)