Meaning & use
grimace
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Meanings
verbintransitive
To twist your face for a moment because of pain, disgust, or dislike.
Grammar: No object; often shows a brief reaction rather than a lasting expression.
Patterns
- grimace in pain
- grimace at something
- grimace with disgust
- make someone grimace
She grimaced when the cold water touched her ankle.
He grimaced at the sour taste but finished the medicine.
The runner grimaced as she crossed the finish line.
nouncountable
A short twisted expression of the face showing pain, disgust, or disapproval.
Grammar: Takes a plural; usually describes one visible facial reaction.
Patterns
- a pained grimace
- with a grimace
- hide a grimace
A grimace crossed his face when he lifted the heavy box.
She answered with a grimace and pointed at the empty shelf.
His grimace told us the joke had landed badly.
Word forms
| third person singular | grimaces |
|---|---|
| past tense | grimaced |
| past participle | grimaced |
| -ing form | grimacing |
| plural | grimaces |
Common combinations
- grimace in pain
- The child grimaced in pain after biting into the lemon.
- grimace at the thought
- Many people grimace at the thought of public speaking.
- a pained grimace
- A pained grimace showed that his back was still hurting.
- hide a grimace
- She tried to hide a grimace when the soup was too salty.
Synonyms and how they differ
- wince
- Wince is a bodily flinch from pain or shock; grimace is specifically a twisted facial expression.
- scowl
- Scowl suggests continued anger, while grimace is usually brief and caused by pain or disgust.
- sneer
- Sneer shows contempt and often looks planned; grimace does not necessarily show contempt.
Opposites
Practice
Choose the best sentence for the verb “grimace.”
Choose one answer.
“Grimace” is intransitive and commonly takes “at” for a cause: you grimace at something. “She grimaced the long queue” wrongly makes it transitive; the others use wrong prepositions.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “grimace”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.