grotesquerie

noun

gro·​tes·​que·​rie grō-ˈte-skə-rē 

variants or less commonly grotesquery

plural grotesqueries

1

: something that is grotesque

2

: the quality or state of being grotesque : grotesqueness

Synonyms of grotesquerie

• monster
• grotesque

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

But that memorable 20-6 record after the All-Star break must be weighed against the meltdown in the final three games of their first-round playoff loss to the New York Knicks, culminating in Thursday night’s grotesquerie of a 140-89 loss at State Farm Arena. —Ken Sugiura, AJC.com, 1 May 2026

The ghastly kills are there — innards are spilled on floors, knives go through temples, heads stuck on pikes expel vomitous discharge — but there’s little of the preceding back-and-forth that made such scenes notable in the past and at least conceptually justified the grotesquerie. —Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 27 Feb. 2026

Platter can hardly go more than a few pages without noting one grotesquerie or another. —Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026

The abundance of these grotesqueries was almost stranger than their existence. —Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 14 Dec. 2025

Word History

Etymology

grotesque + French -erie -ery

First Known Use

circa 1666, in the meaning defined at sense 1