Emily Dickinson Lexicon

GRI-MACE', n. [Fr. from grim, or its root; Sp. grimazo.]

1. A distortion of the countenance, from habit, affectation or insolence. Spectator.
2. An air of affectation. Granville. [“Half the French words used affectedly by Melantha, in Dryden's Marriage à-la-Mode, as innovations in our language, are now in common use; chagrin, double-entendre, eclaircissement, embarras, equivoque, foible, grimace, naiveté, ridicule. All these words, which she learns by heart to use occasionally, are now in common use.” D'Israeli's Curiosities of Literature, Second Series, 2d Ed. vol. i. p. 395. – E. H. B.]