grim

Word family

grim /ɡrɪm/ adjectiveadj

1 SERIOUS SITUATIONmaking you feel worried or unhappy 令人担忧的；令人不快的 SYN harsh

the grim reality of rebuilding the shattered town

重建被毁城镇的严峻现实

When he lost his job, his future looked grim.

他失业以后前途不容乐观。

Millions of Britons face the grim prospect (=something bad that will probably happen) of dearer home loans.

无数英国人面临着住房贷款更加沉重的暗淡前景。

We received the grim news in silence.

我们听到这个令人沮丧的消息，沉默无言。

2 SERIOUS PERSONlooking or sounding very serious 〔神色或口气〕严肃的

‘I’ll survive, ’ he said with a grim smile.

“我死不了。”他阴笑着说。

The child hung on to her arm with grim determination.

那孩子死死抓住她的胳膊。

The police officers were silent and grim-faced.

警察默不作声，神情严肃。

3 British EnglishBrE informalBAD very bad, ugly, or unpleasant 非常糟糕的；极丑的；令人不快的

The weather forecast is pretty grim.

天气预报说天气很恶劣。

They painted a grim picture of what life used to be like there.

他们将昔日那里的生活描绘成一幅悲惨的画面。

a grim industrial town

一个丑陋的工业城镇

4 [not before noun] informalILL ill 生病的，不舒服的

Juliet felt grim through the early months of her pregnancy.

怀孕的头几个月，朱丽叶感觉很不舒服。

5. hold/hang on for/like grim death British EnglishBrE informalHOLD to hold something very tightly because you are afraid 〔因害怕而〕死死抓住

—grimly adverbadv

Arnold smiled grimly.

阿诺德阴冷地笑了笑。

—grimness noun [uncountableU]

Examples from the Corpus

grim• During that drive there was much discussion about the future, which looked pretty grim.• The Bears had better start grabbing on to something, anything, as the outlook on the season suddenly turned very grim.• Their faces soot black, raccoon eyes grim, alert.• The spy-fly zipped along in her wake, down narrower, abandoned, grim alleys.• She looked grim and upset, standing silently in the corner.• the grim details of the war• a grim economic situation• A grim-faced diplomat read out the declaration of war.• a grim-faced policeman• Things look pretty grim for farmers at the moment.• The situation is grim for the innocent people, caught up in this conflict.• However, I suspect that Mains rather got some enjoyment out of appearing as some grim nemesis of the south.• The next few weeks brought more grim news, as the economic crisis began to deepen.• Even in the grimmest period, we both respond to the inner commandments that find some value here.• The next grim prospect is carnage following the PE2 results.• Two thousand car workers face the grim prospect of redundancy.• Rescue workers are continuing the grim task of searching for bodies.• As the supply of carrots dwindled, people told fewer stories, they grew grimmer, we laughed less at our conquerors.

grim determination• In fact he found Patrick's grim determination not to be charmed rather amusing.• It was their grim determination that got them to the top of Mount Everest.• No words, no threats, no waste of energy, just a grim determination to do or die.

Origin grim

Old English grimm

grim adjectiveadj

Chinese

Corpus