adjective
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a bleak/gloomy/grim picture (= giving the impression that something is or will be bad )
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The report paints a bleak picture of the economy.
a grim discovery (= an unpleasant and sad discovery such as finding a dead body )
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Police made the grim discovery while they were searching the house.
a grim/sobering/chilling reminder (= making you feel serious and worried or frightened )
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They passed the armed guard, a grim reminder of the ever-present threat of terrorism.
a grim/stern expression (= one that shows you are very strict or angry )
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Aunty Kitty looked at us with a stern expression and ordered us indoors.
a terrible/horrible/grim fate
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The crew of the ship met a terrible fate.
bleak/grim/dark (= without anything to make you feel hopeful )
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The theatre is losing money and its future looks bleak.
dogged/steely/grim determination (= very strong determination )
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As a politician she was known for her dogged determination.
face a bleak/grim etc future
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Many pensioners face a bleak future.
gloomy/grim/bleak
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Many Britons face the grim prospect of having their home repossessed.
grim satisfaction (= when you succeed or are proved right, but do not really feel happy about it )
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‘That’s exactly what I expected,’ he said with grim satisfaction.
paint a grim/rosy/gloomy picture of sb/sth
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Dickens painted a grim picture of Victorian life.
the harsh/grim/stark reality (= conditions that are really very bad )
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We want to protect our children from the harsh reality of our violent world.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
as
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What is at stake is whether conurbations like Merseyside and Tyne side face a future as grim as the present Belfast.
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Holidays, split between parents, were just as grim .
more
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The farmhouse was even more grim than usual tonight.
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Center officials cite even more grim statistics.
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This is made more grim as most pollsters claim voters have made up their minds well before polling day.
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A.. The results here sound more grim at first blush than they really are.
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And in this case the consequence of such a repetition could hardly be more grim .
rather
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He expected good behaviour and his rather grim glance in her direction did more to motivate her into action than any coaxing.
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Of rather grim appearance, she wore a tunic of writhing snakes.
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The detail of these two Appendices is indeed so full of problems as to make them rather grim reading.
so
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What is there to celebrate and explore when my life is so grim ?
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Sales are so grim they are offering individual game tickets, although the response has been tepid.
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The expression on his face was so grim that it almost frightened her, and she stared at him speechlessly.
■ NOUN
determination
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In fact he found Patrick's grim determination not to be charmed rather amusing.
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No words, no threats, no waste of energy, just a grim determination to do or die.
expression
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But when Mellor left 10 Downing Street, his grim expression showed his Cabinet career was over.
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Claudia thought of resisting, but one look at his grim expression told her it would be useless.
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Cobalt had resumed his grim expression .
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A grim expression furrowed his brow.
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In that case, he told me with a grim expression , there was something he had to warn me about.
face
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Vologsky increased his pace, momentarily, gaining a few feet so that he could look back at Kirov's grim face .
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They always watched him, but never with such grim faces .
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He looked over at Renwick's grim face , fell silent.
line
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His closely shaven face was tense and his usually sensuous mouth set in a grim line .
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Now, his mouth clamped into the grim line she was familiar with.
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Her mouth set in a grim line , she went to the kitchen door.
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Sarah's mouth set in a grim line .
news
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Workers were given the grim news by union officials at a mass meeting.
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Many seemed resigned to defeat as two huge television screens flashed the grim news from East Coast precincts.
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I brought grim news , and I delivered it with a certain mournful pleasure.
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But yesterday's grim news was not unexpected and Marley's shares slipped just 2p to 108p.
picture
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They let us know the grim picture you are being given, of our situation here.
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Individuals painted a pretty grim picture of the pressures within social security offices.
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Repeated commissions and zemstvo investigations drew a grim picture of peasant destitution and growing frustration.
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The villagers were still talking about the servant-girl's revelations when dawn broke on a grim picture .
reality
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But these steps forward are against the background of some grim realities for children in other areas.
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Yet its simplicity dramatizes a grim reality .
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Perhaps some of them are good at putting on a face, saving the grim reality for private moments.
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Life was teaching him its grim realities - the hard and close way.
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My brief visit certainly brought home to me the grim realities that lie behind the many statistics on Third World debt.
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It has all been a fantastic myth exploded by grim reality .
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However, the pain in her chest confirmed that this was no nightmare, but grim reality .
reaper
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Some tragedy appears to have befallen the family and it appears likely that the grim reaper called for both parents around 1846.
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The long arm of the corporation's grim reaper is not deterred by such agoraphobic precautions.
satisfaction
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Their steep decline has given grim satisfaction to their legions of detractors.
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He sensed their grim satisfaction , something meritorious in the air, some old grievance righted at last.
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George locked the letter away, smiling with grim satisfaction .
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Miguel stood there smoking and grunting and nodding to himself with the grim satisfaction that comes when your suspicions are proved correct.
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Conservatives on the faculty enjoyed the grim satisfaction of seeing their predictions of catastrophe realized in full.
smile
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Katherine's lips moved in a grim smile as she recalled some of the details - it had been quite a scandal.
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He did it with the grim smile of the entrepreneur.
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Her grim smile was triumphant when she turned back to the open freight car.
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He pocketed it with a grim smile , evidently appreciating the joke.
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There was a grim smile on Duvall's face as he advanced.
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That grim smile smuggled beneath his moustache; a temperance flag at his elbow.
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With a small grim smile of satisfaction, he went back to the utility room and looked at the power switches.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
grim-faced/serious-faced etc
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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A grim -faced diplomat read out the declaration of war.
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a grim -faced policeman
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a grim economic situation
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Rescue workers are continuing the grim task of searching for bodies.
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She looked grim and upset, standing silently in the corner.
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the grim details of the war
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The next few weeks brought more grim news, as the economic crisis began to deepen.
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The situation is grim for the innocent people, caught up in this conflict.
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Things look pretty grim for farmers at the moment.
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Two thousand car workers face the grim prospect of redundancy.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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As the supply of carrots dwindled, people told fewer stories, they grew grimmer, we laughed less at our conquerors.
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During that drive there was much discussion about the future, which looked pretty grim .
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Even in the grimmest period, we both respond to the inner commandments that find some value here.
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However, I suspect that Mains rather got some enjoyment out of appearing as some grim nemesis of the south.
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The Bears had better start grabbing on to something, anything, as the outlook on the season suddenly turned very grim .
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The next grim prospect is carnage following the PE2 results.
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The spy-fly zipped along in her wake, down narrower, abandoned, grim alleys.
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Their faces soot black, raccoon eyes grim , alert.