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gro·tes·que·rie | \ grō-ˈte-skə-rē 
\
\variants:
or less commonly grotesquery
plural grotesqueries
Definition of grotesquerie
1 : something that is grotesque
2 : the quality or state of being grotesque : grotesqueness
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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 on the Web The brilliant illustrator was famous for skewering the U.K. establishment with frenetic cartoons and caricatures that transformed the everyday into surreal grotesqueries.
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Jordan Runtagh, PEOPLE.com, "The Wall at 40: Illustrator Gerald Scarfe Recalls Designing Pink Floyd’s Multimedia Masterpiece," 27 Nov. 2019 In Loro, the effort to plumb the void at the center of all the grotesqueries is given a sharper, more historically specific edge.
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Lidija Haas, The New Republic, "Paolo Sorrentino’s Loro Will Make You Feel Complicit," 19 Sep. 2019 Donald Corren’s Fagin is a roguish scene-stealer, shunning gross grotesquerie without succumbing to blandness.
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Terry Teachout, WSJ, "‘Twelfth Night’ and ‘Oliver!’ Reviews: Applause Outdoors and for Orphans," 2 Aug. 2018 His work betrays his influences—such as Edvard Munch’s haunted faces, Weimar-era expressionist grotesquerie and the anthropomorphic dogs of Keith Haring—but never pastiches them.
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D.b., The Economist, "James Johnston, a veteran rock musician, has blossomed as an artist," 29 July 2019 An aesthetically benign baseball cap is a 21st-century grotesquerie.
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Washington Post, "The MAGA hat is not a statement of policy. It’s an inflammatory declaration of identity.," 17 Aug. 2019 More Stories The answer might be that Tarantino is out to absolve Hollywood, and himself, for grotesqueries, excesses, insensitivities, and lapses.
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Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, "Quentin Tarantino’s Ultimate Statement on Movie Violence," 2 Aug. 2019 Beran understands the grotesqueries of 4chan as a kind of modern monument to disconsolate male heartbreak.
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Emma Grey Ellis, WIRED, "WIRED Book of the Month: It Came From Something Awful," 31 July 2019 But Algren resembles the two masters only superficially, in his antic grotesquerie; any deeper affinity is wholly wanting.
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Algis Valiunas, National Review, "Nelson Algren: Chicago’s Bard of the Downtrodden," 11 July 2019
See MoreThese 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.
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Time Traveler for grotesquerie
The first known use of grotesquerie was circa 1666
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