Emily Dickinson Lexicon

GRO-TESQUE', or GRO-TESK', a. [Fr. grotesque; Sp. and Port. grutesco; It. grottesca; from grotto.]

Wildly formed; whimsical; extravagant; of irregular forms and proportions; ludicrous; antic; resembling the figures found in the subterraneous apartments in the ancient ruins at Rome; applied to pieces of sculpture and painting, and to natural scenery; as, grotesque painting; grotesque design. Dryden.