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grotesquery

American  
[groh-tes-kuh-ree] / groʊˈtɛs kə ri /
Or grotesquerie

noun

plural

grotesqueries
  1. grotesque character.

  2. something grotesque.

  3. grotesque ornamental work.


grotesquery British  
/ ɡrəʊˈtɛskərɪ /

noun

  1. the state of being grotesque

  2. something that is grotesque, esp an object such as a sculpture

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of grotesquery

From the French word grotesquerie, dating back to 1555–65. See grotesque, -ery

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

It’s easy to sneer at Morris’s antics, but beneath the grotesquery is a real hunger.

From Salon • May 12, 2025

Schoenberg expunged tonality, with its too predictable pull on the emotions, creating a sensation with his own surreal grotesquery, “Pierrot Lunaire.”

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 21, 2020

But just as I was beginning to fall under my host’s charming spell, my attention was seized by an item of such alarming grotesquery that I tremble even now to recount it in full.

From The Guardian • Mar. 16, 2020

So you’re deliberately avoiding the grotesquery of it all.

From New York Times • Jan. 12, 2015

From that to the unhorsing and the binding had been merely a rough-and-tumble half-minute, inasmuch as he was unarmed and the surprise had been complete; but the grotesquery remained.

From The Honorable Senator Sage-Brush by Lynde, Francis