Grimace

Pronunciation

• US enPR: grÄ­m'-É™s; IPA: /'gɹɪm.É™s/, /gɹɪ.'meɪs/
• Rhymes: -eɪs

Origin

From French grimace, from Middle French grimace, from Old French grimace, grimuche, from grime ("mask"), from Old Frankish *grīma ("mask"), from Proto-Germanic *grīmô ("mask, helmet"), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰer- ("to stroke, rub"). Cognate with Old English grīma ("mask, visor, helmet, spectre, apparition"). More at grime.

Full definition of grimace

Noun

1. A distortion of the countenance, whether habitual, from affectation, or momentary and occasional, to express some feeling, as contempt, disapprobation, complacency, etc.; a smirk; a made-up face.
• "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." — Opera News, March 2005

Verb

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