grotesque
noun/ɡrəʊˈtesk/
/ɡrəʊˈtesk/
- [countable] a person who is extremely ugly in a strange way, especially in a book or painting
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- the grotesque[singular] a style of art or sculpture using grotesque figures and designs
Word Originmid 16th cent. (as noun): from French crotesque (the earliest form in English), from Italian grottesca, from opera or pittura grottesca ‘work or painting resembling that found in a grotto’; “grotto” here probably denoted the rooms of ancient buildings in Rome which had been revealed by excavations, and which contained murals in the grotesque style.
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