grotesquery
2
9.9
- noun
- /ɡroʊˈtɛskwəri/
:
grotesquedad
- The grotesquery of all this signifies, in admittedly extreme form, the macabre dimension of the will-to-sacrifice as it has been constituted in the politics of an unusually virulent form of sovereignty.
Examples
-
As I say, it would be easy to produce a fat anthology of such grotesqueries.
Academic text (1997) -
It seems to Henry in this moment that not he but the whole world has cracked open to reveal a garden of grotesqueries, a garden worthy of Hieronymus Bosch with the variety and surprise of its cunning little monsters.
Fiction book (1996) -
Watch for grotesqueries at every corner.
-
Such a moment called for gaiety, not grotesquery.
Academic text (2010) -
Amused, almost, by its grotesqueries of form.
Fiction book (1991) -
Your readers expect grotesqueries and cheap thrills.
-
Sinclair's 1905 novel about the grotesqueries of the meat industry inspired outrage and led to the 1906 Federal Meat Inspection Act.
Blog text (10) -
"It was precisely the grotesquery popularly associated with the 'tribal' that attracted Symbolists and modernists in these years, an extremely important feature of modernism to understand.
Academic text (1990) -
The sculpture was a striking grotesquery, with distorted faces and exaggerated features that captivated the audience.
-
In a dream, she encountered a grotesquery of monstrous creatures that seemed both absurd and terrifying.
Synonyms
23
8.2
A very ugly thing that looks frightening, often a building
1
9.9
A strange and ugly quality in people and things that shocks and interests
1
8.1
A state when something looks ugly and strange in a way that shocks
Antonyms
How Distorted
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Grotesquery comes from grotesque, which comes from the Italian grotta meaning 'cave' because artists long ago found strange paintings and decorations in caves and old ruins and called that style odd. The ending -ery makes a noun for a 'state' or 'collection', so grotesquery means the 'state' or 'collection' of odd, distorted things, which is why we use it for shocking or strange images.