different between grim vs dim

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???m/
• Rhymes: -?m

Etymology 1

From Middle English grim, from Old English grim, grimm, from Proto-West Germanic *grimm, from Proto-Germanic *grimmaz, from Proto-Indo-European *g?rem- (“to resound, thunder, grumble, roar”). Noun sense derives from adjective, from 1620s.

Adjective

grim (comparative grimmer, superlative grimmest)

1. dismal and gloomy, cold and forbidding

   Life was grim in many northern industrial towns.
2. rigid and unrelenting

   His grim determination enabled him to win.

3. ghastly or sinister

   A grim castle overshadowed the village.

   • 2012 March 22, Scott Tobias, “The Hunger Games”, in AV Club:

     In movie terms, it suggests Paul Verhoeven in Robocop/Starship Troopers mode, an R-rated bloodbath where the grim spectacle of children murdering each other on television is bread-and-circuses for the age of reality TV, enforced by a totalitarian regime to keep the masses at bay.

4. disgusting; gross

   - Wanna see the dead rat I found in my fridge?
   - Mate, that is grim!

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

grim (plural grims)

1. (obsolete) specter, ghost, haunting spirit

Verb

grim (third-person singular simple present grims, present participle grimming, simple past and past participle grimmed)

1. (transitive, rare) To make grim; to give a stern or forbidding aspect to.

Etymology 2

From Middle English grim, grym, greme, from Old English *grimu, *grimmu, from Proto-Germanic *grimm?? (“anger, wrath”), from Proto-Indo-European *g?rem- (“to resound, thunder, grumble, roar”). Cognate with Middle Dutch grimme, Middle High German grimme f (“anger”), modern German Grimm m.

Noun

grim (uncountable)

1. (archaic) Anger, wrath.

Derived terms

• grimful
• grimless

Danish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [????m?]

Etymology

From Old Norse grimmr, from Proto-Germanic *grimmaz.

Adjective

grim

1. ugly, unsightly
2. nasty

Inflection

Kalasha

Verb

grim

1. taking

Old English

Alternative forms

• grimm

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *grimm.

Cognate with Old Saxon grim, Old High German grim (German grimm, grimmig), Old Norse grimmr (Danish grim, Swedish grym); and with Greek ??????? (chremízo), Old Church Slavonic ??????? (gr?m?ti) (Russian ???????? (gremét?)), Latvian gremt.

Perhaps related in Old Norse to veiled or hooded, Grim is also an alternate name for Odin, who often went around disguised; compare the hooded appearance of The Grim Reaper.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?rim/

Adjective

grim

1. fierce, severe, terrible, savage, cruel, angry

Declension

Descendants

• Middle English: grim
  • Scots: grim
  • English: grim

Translingual

Symbol

dim

1. (mathematics) dimension

English

Etymology

From Middle English dim, dym, from Old English dim, dimm (“dim, dark, gloomy; wretched, grievous, sad, unhappy”), from Proto-Germanic *dimmaz (“dark”), from Proto-Indo-European *d?em- (“to whisk, smoke, blow; dust, haze, cloud; obscure”). Compare Faroese dimmur, Icelandic dimmur (“dark”) and dimma (“darkness”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: d?m, IPA^(key): /d?m/
• Rhymes: -?m

Adjective

dim (comparative dimmer, superlative dimmest)

1. Not bright or colorful.

   The lighting was too dim for me to make out his facial features.

   • 1821, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Adonais

     that sustaining Love / Which, through the web of being blindly wove / By man and beast and earth and air and sea, / Burns bright or dim

2. (colloquial) Not smart or intelligent.

   He may be a bit dim, but he's not stupid.

3. Indistinct, hazy or unclear.

   His vision grew dimmer as he aged.

4. Disapproving, unfavorable: rarely used outside the phrase take a dim view of.
5. (music) Clipping of diminished.

Translations

Noun

dim (uncountable)

1. (archaic) Dimness.

Verb

dim (third-person singular simple present dims, present participle dimming, simple past and past participle dimmed)

1. (transitive) To make something less bright.

   He dimmed the lights and put on soft music.

2. (intransitive) To become darker.

   The lights dimmed briefly when the air conditioning was turned on.

3. To render dim, obscure, or dark; to make less bright or distinct
   • 1695, John Dryden (translator), Observations on the Art of Painting by Charles Alphonse du Fresnoy

     a king among his courtiers, […] who out to dim the lustre of all his attendants

   • 1791, William Cowper, The Odyssey of Homer

     Now set the sun, and twilight dimm'd the ways.

4. To deprive of distinct vision; to hinder from seeing clearly, either by dazzling or clouding the eyes; to darken the senses or understanding of.
   • 1740, Christopher Pitt, The Aeneid

     Her starry eyes were dimm'd with streaming tears.

Derived terms

• bedim
• dimly
• dimmer (noun)

Translations

Anagrams

• DMI, IDM, IM'd, IMD, MDI, MID, Mid., mid, mid-

Indonesian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?d?m]
• Hyphenation: dim

Etymology 1

From Dutch duim.

Noun

dim (first-person possessive dimku, second-person possessive dimmu, third-person possessive dimnya)

1. thumb
2. inch

   Synonym: inci

Etymology 2

From English dimmer.

Noun

dim (first-person possessive dimku, second-person possessive dimmu, third-person possessive dimnya)

1. high-beam headlamp on a road vehicle.

Further reading

• “dim” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia (KBBI) Daring, Jakarta: Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa, Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia, 2016.

Latvian

Verb

dim

1. 3rd person singular present indicative form of dim?t
2. 3rd person plural present indicative form of dim?t
3. (with the particle lai) 3rd person singular imperative form of dim?t
4. (with the particle lai) 3rd person plural imperative form of dim?t

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse dimmr. Related to English dim and Icelandic dimmur.

Adjective

dim (neuter singular dimt, definite singular and plural dimme, comparative dimmere, indefinite superlative dimmest, definite superlative dimmeste)

1. dim
2. to have bad vision

   Han er dim på synet

   His vision is dim/bad/poor

References

• “dim” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

From the Old Norse adjective dimmr, from Proto-Germanic *dimmaz. The neuter noun is derived from the adjective. The automotive senses may be a Back-formation from - of the verb dimme.

Adjective

dim (neuter singular dimt, definite singular and plural dimme, comparative dimmare, indefinite superlative dimmast, definite superlative dimmaste)

1. gloomy
2. dim
3. having bad vision

   Han er dim på synet

   His vision is dim/bad/poor

Related terms

• dimma, dimme (verb)

Noun 1

dim m (definite singular dimmen, indefinite plural dimmar, definite plural dimmane)

1. (automotive, colloquial) a switching of one's headlamps from high-beam to low-beam
2. (automotive, colloquial) lever, button or other
3. (dialectal) Clipping of dimme (“twilight, half darkness”).

Noun 2

dim n (definite singular dimmet, uncountable)

1. (dialectal) dimmest, darkest part of the summer night
2. (dialectal) twilight

   Synonym: skumring

Etymology 2

Noun

dim m (definite singular dimmen, indefinite plural dimmar, definite plural dimmane)

1. (colloquial) Clipping of dimensjon.

References

• “dim” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Anagrams

• mid-

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *dym?, from Proto-Indo-European *d?uh?mós (“smoke”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dîm/

Noun

d?m m (Cyrillic spelling ????)

1. smoke

Declension

Derived terms

• dimni signal

Slovene

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *dym?, from Proto-Indo-European *d?uh?mós (“smoke”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dím/

Noun

d?m m inan

1. smoke

Inflection

Further reading

• “dim”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran

Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d?m/

Adjective

dim

1. any
2. no, not, none

Noun

dim m (uncountable)

1. anything
2. nothing, none, nil, zero

Particle

dim

1. not

Usage notes

As a verbal particle, almost always appears mutated as ddim.

Mutation