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grimace

/ˈɡɹɪm.əs/noun, verb

grimace is spelled G-R-I-M-A-C-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 46,473rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, grimace means “A contorted facial expression, often expressing contempt or pain” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of grimace is grimaces.

How many letters and syllables are in grimace?

Letters7: G-R-I-M-A-C-E
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writingabout once in every 2 million words; the 46,473rd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

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).

How common is grimace?

Grimace appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 46,473rd 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 grimace?

  • UK /ˈɡɹɪm.əs/
  • UK /ɡɹɪˈmeɪs/
  • US /ˈɡɹɪm.əs/

Grimace has 2 syllables (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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-grimace.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of grimace

  • grimaces plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • grimacing participle, present
  • grimaced participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does grimace mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A contorted facial expression, often expressing contempt or pain.

    Her face was twisted in a grimace of disgust.

  2. 2

    obsoleteAffectation, pretence.

verb

  1. 1

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

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Grimace in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchgrimace (a distortion of the face), grimacer, faire des grimaces (to make grimaces)
GermanGrimasse (a distortion of the face), Grimassen schneiden (to make grimaces)
Portuguesecareta, esgar (a distortion of the face), fazer careta/caretas (to make grimaces)
Spanishmueca, mohín, mohíno, regaño (a distortion of the face), hacer gestos, hacer muecas (to make grimaces)

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 grimace come from?

From French grimace, from Middle French grimace, from Old French grimace, grimuche, from grime (“mask”) (with the pejorative suffix -ace, from Latin -āceus), from Frankish *grīma, *grīmō (“mask”), from Proto-Germanic *grīmô (“mask, helmet”). Cognate with Old English grīma (“mask, visor, helmet, spectre, apparition”). More at grime.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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