grotesque [M16th] We think of something grotesque as being ugly or distorted, either in a comic or a repulsive way, but when the word first appeared in English in the 16th century it simply described the style of painting found in a grotto, specifically the murals discovered in ancient Roman ruins. These decorative wall paintings involved interweaving human and animal forms with flowers and foliage. Grotesque comes from Italian grottesca, which was used in the phrases opera grottesca ‘work resembling that found in a grotto’, and pittura grottesca ‘painting resembling one found in a grotto’. Grotty, meaning ‘unpleasant or unwell’, source of grot [M20th] ‘dirt’, comes from grotesque. It was introduced to the public in 1964 in the Beatles film A Hard Day’s Night. For grotto see italian words.