グロテスク

also: グロテクス

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Common wordFreq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

na-adjective

grotesque; bizarre; weird

Describes something disturbingly strange, unnatural, or distorted in a way that feels unsettling. Used for appearances, situations, or artistic expressions.

その絵えはグロテスクな怪かい物ぶつを描えがいていた。
The painting depicted a grotesque monster.
彼かれの冗じょう談だんはグロテスクで、誰だれも笑わらわなかった。
His joke was so bizarre that nobody laughed.

noun

grotesque (art style)

art / aesthetics

Specifically refers to the grotesque style in art and aesthetics, characterized by fantastical, distorted, or hybrid forms.

ルネサンス期きのグロテスク装そう飾しょくは、植しょく物ぶつと動どう物ぶつが混まざった奇き妙みょうなデザインが特とく徴ちょうだ。
Renaissance grotesque ornamentation is characterized by strange designs mixing plants and animals.

See all 16 example sentences ›

Usage patterns

〈物もの〉がグロテスクに見みえるfor something to look grotesque
彼かれの傷きず跡あとはグロテスクに見みえた。
His scar looked grotesque.
グロテスクな〈物もの〉a grotesque ~ (e.g. figure, image, expression)
その絵えにはグロテスクな怪かい物ぶつが描かかれていた。
The painting depicted a grotesque monster.

Related words· 6

奇き怪かい sense 1
奇怪 emphasizes mysterious, eerie strangeness, whereas グロテスク stresses a disturbing, physically distorted quality.
異い様よう sense 1
異様 simply means 'unusual' or 'out of the ordinary' without the repulsive, distorted connotation that グロテスク carries.
不ぶ気き味みN2sense 1
不気味 focuses on an eerie, unsettling feeling, while グロテスク adds a specifically grotesque, physically distorted or repulsive image.
醜しゅう悪あく sense 1
醜悪 describes something ugly and morally or aesthetically repugnant, while グロテスク centers on bizarre, distorted form rather than moral ugliness.

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グロ
グロ is the casual, clipped form used in everyday speech and online, while グロテスク is the fuller, more formal word that can also describe artistic or literary grotesqueness beyond just gore.
異い形ぎょう
グロテスク is a loanword typically for intentionally distorted or ugly art/design, whereas 異形 covers any fantastical or eerie shape, natural or not.

Etymology

Loanword from English 'grotesque', ultimately from Italian 'grottesco' (of a cave), referring to extravagant ancient Roman decorative art discovered in ruins.