grotesquerie

noun gro·tes·que·rie \ grō-ˈte-skə-rē \

variants: or less commonly grotesquery

|Updated on: 17 Jun 2018

Examples: grotesquerie in a Sentence

Definition of grotesquerie

plural grotesqueries

1 : something that is grotesque

2 : the quality or state of being grotesque : grotesqueness

Examples of grotesquerie in a Sentence

born Joseph Merrick, the so-called Elephant Man was for a time exhibited as a sideshow grotesquerie

Recent Examples of grotesquerie from the Web

The result is a panorama of atomic grotesquerie that is at once troubling, surprising and ruthlessly entertaining.

— The Economist, "Secrets and lies of the nuclear age," 7 June 2018
This version of the Cinderella story sets the gentle, patient heroine against the comic grotesqueries of her domineering stepmother and twit-like stepsisters.

— heidi waleson, WSJ, "French Opera Takes Over New York," 23 Apr. 2018
If America is lucky—and America has been a lucky country—out of the grotesqueries of this Trumpian era a rectification will gather force.

— holman w. jenkins, WSJ, "The Post Office and Trump’s Culture War," 20 Apr. 2018
And a growing commitment to augmenting the grotesqueries of Gothick design, colored glass at the windows lending the place a cathedral air with images not of saints but suns and moons, stars, falcons, an antlered stag.

— Longreads, "The Ladies Who Were Famous for Wanting to Be Left Alone," 17 Apr. 2018
The war’s proponents deploy propaganda with all the loathsome rhetoric of the white supremacist alt-right; the war’s atrocities are Mengelean in scope and grotesquerie.

— n.k. jemisin, New York Times, "The Latest in Science Fiction and Fantasy," 6 Sep. 2017
In some ways, the grotesqueries of his persona, rather than anathematizing him to voters, only enhanced his appeal among those wishing for something different.

— jamelle bouie, Slate Magazine, "Protest Works," 24 Jan. 2017
Donald Trump’s grotesqueries have presented the Republican Party’s intellectual class with a searing test of faith, somewhat akin to the way Marxist intellectuals experienced Stalin’s pact with Hitler or Khrushchev’s secret speech.

— jonathan chait, Daily Intelligencer, "Does Charlie Sykes Understand How the Right Lost Its Mind?," 15 Oct. 2017
But much of this year’s broadcast took a laugh-to-avoid-weeping approach to the Trump Era, and poking fun at political grotesqueries has long been Colbert’s forte.

— michelle cottle, The Atlantic, "Accountability Is for Non-Celebrities," 21 Sep. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'grotesquerie.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.