grim
/ɡɹɪm/adjective, verb, noun
grim is spelled G-R-I-M: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 4.9 times per million words in written English, the 11,373rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, grim means “Dismal and gloomy, cold and forbidding” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in grim?
| Letters | 4: G-R-I-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 4.9 times per million words; the 11,373rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is grim?
Grim appears 4.9 times per million words in written English, the 11,373rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce grim?
- US /ɡɹɪm/
Grim has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-grim.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with grim?
9 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as grim from its last stressed vowel (/ɪm/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of grim
- grimmer comparative
- grimmest superlative
- grims present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- grimming participle, present
- grimmed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does grim mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Dismal and gloomy, cold and forbidding.
Life was grim in many northern industrial towns.
- 2
Rigid and unrelenting.
His grim determination enabled him to win.
- 3
Ghastly or sinister.
A grim castle overshadowed the village.
- 4
Disgusting; gross.
– Wanna see the dead rat I found in my fridge? – Mate, that is grim!
- 5
obsoleteFierce, cruel, furious.
verb
- 1
rareTo make grim; to give a stern or forbidding aspect to.
noun
- 1
datedslangA promiscuous woman.
- 2
obsoleteAnger, wrath.
- 3
obsoleteA specter, ghost, haunting spirit.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Grim in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | sinistre, sombre , inébranlable, indéfectible, rigide |
| German | grimmig, düster, finster , unbeugsam, unnachgiebig, eisern |
| Portuguese | sinistro , rígido, austero |
| Spanish | siniestro, sombrío, lóbrego, lúgubre , rígido |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does grim come from?
From Middle English grim, from Old English grimm, from Proto-West Germanic *grimm, from Proto-Germanic *grimmaz, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrem- (“to resound, thunder, grumble, roar”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).