GRIM Synonyms: 285 Similar and Opposite Words

grim

adjective

ˈgrim

as in gruff

harsh and threatening in manner or appearance a grim and desolate landscape a grim and short-tempered shopkeeper who didn't exactly invite friendly conversation

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as in harsh

difficult to endure this winter is supposed to be particularly grim, so stock up on firewood

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as in relentless

showing no signs of slackening or yielding in one's purpose with grim determination, the woman worked three jobs to put her fatherless children through college

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as in savage

violently unfriendly or aggressive in disposition grim warriors heading into battle

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of grim The long-term implications of these barriers could be grim, especially because more than half of the country’s postdoc scholars in science, technology, engineering and math, and around a third of the country’s graduate students, are visa holders. —

Nara Parameswaran, The Conversation, 30 Mar. 2026 Many of us at City Hall also have been banging our heads against the wall about it, but the situation is more grim than most Chicagoans realize. —

Bill Conway, Chicago Tribune, 30 Mar. 2026 Her grim discovery ensures Toya will meet the same fate, and in the last episode, as the murderer escapes through the window, Hole discovers the killer’s final victim in the bathroom, tied by her neck to the shower. —

K.j. Yossman, Variety, 27 Mar. 2026 And yet, the picture heading into April is not entirely grim. —

Angelica Leicht, CBS News, 26 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for grim

Recent Examples of Synonyms for grim

Adjective

As Liborio, an orphan who risked his life to cross the border and ended up living in the attic of a bookstore thanks to the kindness of the gruff owner, Chief (Eddie Marsan), the actor plays a narrator who consistently breaks the fourth wall.

— Carlos Aguilar, Variety, 18 Mar. 2026
As Woody Harrelson detailed Harrison Ford's accomplishments from the Actors Awards stage, the famously gruff actor seemed to squirm in his seat, somehow uncomfortable with praise even at the age of 83.

— Eve Batey, Vanity Fair, 2 Mar. 2026