Literary notes about grimace (AI summary)
In literature, "grimace" is used as a versatile term to depict nuanced facial expressions that convey a range of emotions, from ironic amusement and disdain to pain and apprehension. Writers deploy the word to show characters’ inner reactions and social attitudes, often hinting at an underlying emotional conflict or momentary lapse, as when a character exchanges a subdued grimace in place of a smile [1] or employs a comical expression to mask discomfort in an otherwise humorous conversation [2]. In some instances, the grimace underscores intense inner turmoil or shock, turning a physical contortion into a symbol of deep-seated unease [3, 4]. Other portrayals reveal a subtle blend of derision and contradiction, capturing fleeting moments of both wit and vulnerability [5, 6].
- “Oh, not quite as bad as that,” said Miss Meadows, and she gave the Science Mistress, in exchange for her smile, a quick grimace and passed on...
— from The Garden Party, and Other Stories by Katherine Mansfield - We take some interest, you know,” he added with a comical grimace, “in old English churches.”
— from The innocence of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton - He made a grimace and was evidently mortified—not at my exclamation, but at the idea that there was no ground for arrest.
— from The possessed : by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - But when I looked into the mirror, I shrieked, and my heart throbbed: for not myself did I see therein, but a devil’s grimace and derision.
— from Thus Spake Zarathustra: A Book for All and None by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche - So long as courage means a grimace of mind or body, the love of it is another grimace.
— from The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress by George Santayana - But it had such blue, wide, china blue eyes, and it laughed so oddly, with such a taking grimace, Ursula loved it.
— from The Rainbow by D. H. Lawrence
