grime

Meaning

Noun

1. (uncountable) Dirt, grease, soot, etc. that is ingrained and difficult to remove.
2. (uncountable) A genre of urban music that emerged in London, England, in the early 2000s, primarily a development of UK garage, dancehall, and hip hop.

Verb

To begrime; to cake with dirt.

Synonyms

filth

dirt

soil

body dirt

stain

befoul

begrime

muck

dirty

besmirch

splotch

bemire

grease

bedraggle

foul

colly

make dirty

dust

blacken

grunge

soot

smirch

smut

speck

spot

sully

taint

smutch

coal-dust

muddy up

scum

bedaub

besmear

bespatter

blot

cinders

defile

dirtiness

draggle

lint

maculate

mess

mire

moil

muddy

particle

powder

ashes

sludge

slur

Translations

Schmutz

λερώνω

crasse

saleté

sporcizia

mugre

λέρα

sudiciume

roet

qilêr

ordure

🗑️

qirêj

brutícia

salir

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ɡɹaɪm/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: grim

Inherited from Old English: grīma

Cognate with Dutch: grijmsel

Cognate with Middle Dutch: grime

Cognate with Middle Low German: greme

Cognate with Danish: grimet

Cognate with Norwegian Bokmål: grimete

Cognate with Norwegian Nynorsk: grimete

In summary

From Middle English grim (“dirt or soot covering the face”), from a specialized use of Old English grīma (“mask”), from Proto-West Germanic *grīmō, from Proto-Germanic *grīmô (“mask”).
Likely influenced by dialectal Dutch grijmsel (“grit, grime”), Dutch grijm (“soot, grime”), Middle Dutch gryme (“mask”), Middle Low German greme (“dirt”), compare Danish grime (“a halter”), Danish grimet (“soiled, stripy”), Norwegian Bokmål grimete (“soiled, stripy”), Norwegian Nynorsk grimete (“soiled, stripy”).