grimace

/ˈgrɪmɪs/

/ˈgrɪmɪs/

Other forms: grimaces; grimaced; grimacing

The grimace on her face when he asked her to the prom told him her answer was "no" before she said a word. A grimace is a facial expression that usually suggests disgust or pain, but sometimes comic exaggeration.

Picture someone wrinkling his nose, squeezing his eyes shut, and twisting his mouth and you'll have a pretty solid mental image of a grimace. It can be a verb, as in "the class grimaced at the teacher's suggestion of a pop quiz." Or it words as a noun. "The class gave a grimace when the teacher suggested a pop quiz." Its forerunner was the 17th century Spanish grimazo, meaning caricature, and grima, meaning fright.

Definitions of grimace

1. verb

   contort the face to indicate a certain mental or emotional state
   “He grimaced when he saw the amount of homework he had to do”

   synonyms: make a face, pull a face

   types:

   squinch, squint

   cross one's eyes as if in strabismus

   wince

   make a face indicating disgust or dislike

   smile

   change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure

   frown, glower, lour, lower

   look angry or sullen, wrinkle one's forehead, as if to signal disapproval

   screw up

   twist into a strained configuration

   mop, mow, pout

   make a sad face and thrust out one's lower lip

   dimple

   produce dimples while smiling

   grin

   to draw back the lips and reveal the teeth, in a smile, grimace, or snarl

   beam

   smile radiantly; express joy through one's facial expression

   simper, smirk

   smile affectedly or derisively

   sneer

   smile contemptuously

   scowl

   frown with displeasure

   type of:

   communicate, intercommunicate

   transmit thoughts or feelings
2. noun

   a contorted facial expression
   “she made a grimace at the prospect”

   synonyms: face

   types:

   moue, pout, wry face

   a disdainful grimace

   type of:

   facial expression, facial gesture

   a gesture executed with the facial muscles