grotesque

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 28, 2026 is:

grotesque • \groh-TESK\  • adjective

Grotesque describes something that is very strange or ugly in a way that is not normal or natural. It can also describe something that is extremely different from what is expected or usual.

// She opted for a scary Halloween costume, complete with a grotesque monster mask.

// Their claim is a grotesque distortion of the facts.

See the entry >

Examples:

"At the heart of Mary Shelley's 1818 classic Frankenstein and its many pop culture adaptations is the scene in the mad scientist’s lab where Victor Frankenstein, helped by a bolt of lightning, animates the grotesque figure made out of human and animal parts lying on his anatomy table." — Candida Rifkind, The Winnipeg Free Press, 30 May 2026

Did you know?

During the Italian Renaissance, Romans of culture took a great interest in their country's past and began excavating ancient buildings. During their excavations, they uncovered chambers (known in Italian as grotte, "caves," in reference to their cavelike appearance) decorated with fantastical paintings. The Italian word grottesca became the name for a later but similar type of painting or sculpture depicting fantastic combinations of human and animal forms interwoven with unusual fruits and flowers, and by 1561 it had passed through Middle French into the English noun grotesque. The adjective form of grotesque was first used in the early 17th century to describe the decorative art but is now used to describe anything bizarre, incongruous, or unusual.