# grim

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ɡɹɪm/ · frequency rank #11,390

## Definitions
1. Dismal and gloomy, cold and forbidding.
2. Rigid and unrelenting.
3. Ghastly or sinister.
4. Disgusting; gross.
5. Fierce, cruel, furious.

## Etymology
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”).

## Easily confused with
- **gym** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grim-vs-gym)
- **gum** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grim-vs-gum)
- **GUI** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grim-vs-gui)
- **GSM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grim-vs-gsm)
- **GRU** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grim-vs-gru)
- **gro** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grim-vs-gro)
- **grr** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grim-vs-grr)
- **grt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grim-vs-grt)
- **grow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grim-vs-grow)
- **grip** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grim-vs-grip)
- **grin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grim-vs-grin)
- **grit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grim-vs-grit)
- **Guam** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grim-vs-guam)
- **grub** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grim-vs-grub)
- **grog** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grim-vs-grog)
- **grind** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grim-vs-grind)
- **groom** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grim-vs-groom)
- **grips** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grim-vs-grips)
- **Grimm** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grim-vs-grimm)
- **groin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grim-vs-groin)

## Common misspellings (5)
`ggrim`, `girm`, `grmi`, `grrim`, `rgim`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/grim