# grime

> English word · Noun · IPA /ɡɹaɪm/ · frequency rank #25,779

## Definitions
1. Dirt, grease, soot, etc. that is ingrained and difficult to remove.
2. A genre of urban music that emerged in London, England, in the early 2000s, primarily a development of UK garage, dancehall, and hip hop.

## Etymology
From Middle English grim (“dirt or soot covering the face”), from a specialized use of Old English grīma (“mask”), from Proto-West Germanic *grīmō, from Proto-Germanic *grīmô (“mask”).
Likely influenced by dialectal Dutch grijmsel (“grit, grime”), Dutch grijm (“soot, grime”), Middle Dutch gryme (“mask”), Middle Low German greme (“dirt”), compare Danish grime (“a halter”), Danish grimet (“soiled, stripy”), Norwegian Bokmål grimete (“soiled, stripy”), Norwegian Nynorsk grimete (“soiled, stripy”).

## Easily confused with
- **grip** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grime-vs-grip)
- **grin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grime-vs-grin)
- **grit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grime-vs-grit)
- **guide** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grime-vs-guide)
- **grind** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grime-vs-grind)
- **grove** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grime-vs-grove)
- **grips** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grime-vs-grips)
- **guise** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grime-vs-guise)
- **Grimm** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grime-vs-grimm)
- **grits** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grime-vs-grits)
- **grins** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grime-vs-grins)
- **gripe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grime-vs-gripe)
- **grimy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grime-vs-grimy)
- **guile** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grime-vs-guile)
- **grist** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grime-vs-grist)
- **grope** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grime-vs-grope)
- **Grimes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grime-vs-grimes)
- **grimly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grime-vs-grimly)
- **GRE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gre-vs-grime)
- **game** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/game-vs-grime)

## Common misspellings (7)
`ggrime`, `girme`, `griem`, `grimme`, `grmie`, `grrime`, `rgime`

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