Both Uses of
grotesque
in
Oliver Twist
- Her body was bent by age; her limbs trembled with palsy; her face, distorted into a mumbling leer, resembled more the grotesque shaping of some wild pencil, than the work of Nature's hand.†
Chpt 24 *
- Bolter's humble servant,' said Fagin, bowing with grotesque politeness.†
Chpt 42
Definitions:
-
(1)
(grotesque) distorted and unnatural in shape or size -- especially in a disturbing way
or:
ugly, gross, or very wrong -
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
More rarely, grotesque can refer to a style of art or instances of it that combines or distorts in a fanciful way natural forms into something that is often ugly or disturbing. Grotesque can also be used specifically to reference a gargoyle-like sculpture without a waterspout.