Dictionary entry

Grotesque

Webster's Dictionary 1913

Gro‐tesque″ (grō̍‐tĕsk″), a. [F., fr. It. grottesco, fr. grotta grotto. See Grotto.] Like the figures found in ancient grottoes; grottolike; wildly or strangely formed; whimsical; extravagant; of irregular forms and proportions; fantastic; ludicrous; antic. “Grotesque design.” Dryden.Grotesque incidents.” Macaulay.