grimace

From French grimace [1], from Middle French grimace, from Old French grimace, grimuche, from grime (“mask”) (with the pejorative suffix -ace, from Latin -āceus), from Frankish *grīma, *grīmō (“mask”), from Proto-Germanic *grīmô (“mask, helmet”). Cognate with Old English grīma (“mask, visor, helmet, spectre, apparition”). More at grime.

• (UK) enPR: grĭm'-əs, grĭ-mās'; IPA^(key): /ˈɡɹɪm.əs/,[2] (now rare) /ɡɹɪ.ˈmeɪs/[2]
• (US) enPR: grĭm'-əs, grĭ-mās'; IPA^(key): /ˈɡɹɪm.əs/,[2][3] (now very rare) /ɡɹɪ.ˈmeɪs/[2][3]
• Rhymes: -eɪs

The pronunciation with stress on the second syllable was the usual one in the 1700s and 1800s, found in poetry[4] and preferred by dictionaries to the pronunciation with stress on the first syllable,[5] but it is now very rare.

grimace (plural grimaces)

1. A contorted facial expression, often expressing contempt or pain.
   • 2005 March, Opera News:

     I trundle off to bed, eyes brimming, face twisted into a grateful glistening grimace, and awaken the next day wondering what all the fuss was about.

grimace (third-person singular simple present grimaces, present participle grimacing, simple past and past participle grimaced)

1. To make grimaces; to distort one's face; to make faces.

• gurn

• Gemaric, Megaric

From Middle French grimace, from Old French grimace, grimuche (“a contorted or wry face, grotesque countenance”), from grime (“mask”) (with the pejorative suffix -ace, from Latin -āceus), from Old Frankish *grīma, *grīmo (“mask”), from Proto-Germanic *grīmô (“mask, helmet, cover, night”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrey- (“to strip, paint, smear”). Cognate with Middle Dutch grime (“mask”), Old Saxon grīma (“mask”), Old English grīma (“mask”), Old Norse gríma (“mask, helmet, night”). More at grime.

• IPA^(key): /ɡʁi.mas/

grimace f (plural grimaces)

1. grimace

• grimacer

grimace

1. first-person singular present indicative of grimacer
2. third-person singular present indicative of grimacer
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of grimacer
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of grimacer
5. second-person singular imperative of grimacer

• “grimace” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).