Grotesque, a.
Etymology: [F., fr. It. grottesco, fr. grotta grotto. See Grotto.]
Like the figures found in ancient grottoes; grottolike; wildly or strangely formed; whimsical; extravagant; of irregular forms and proportions; fantastic; ludicrous; antic. "Grotesque design." Dryden. "Grotesque incidents." Macaulay.
1 other Webster entry under this spelling
Grotesque, n.
1. A whimsical figure, or scene, such as is found in old crypts and grottoes. Dryden.
2. Artificial grotto-work.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for grotesque; he lists it under fanciful, queer.
Where he writes about it:
The fanciful swings away from the real or the ordinary lightly and pleasantly, the fantastic extravagantly, the grotesque ridiculously. — from fanciful
A fanciful arrangement of objects is commonly pleasing, a fantastic arrangement is striking, a grotesque arrangement is laughable. — from fanciful
That which is grotesque in the material sense is irregular or misshapen in form or outline or ill-proportioned so as to be somewhat ridiculous; the French bizarre is practically equivalent to grotesque. — from queer