Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Grotesque
1.
Like the figures found in ancient grottoes; grottolike.
2.
Hence:
Wildly or strangely formed; whimsical; extravagant; of irregular forms and proportions; fantastic; ludicrous; antic.
“Grotesque design.” Dryden.
“Grotesque incidents.” Macaulay.
Gro-tesque
,Noun.
1.
A whimsical figure, or scene, such as is found in old crypts and grottoes.
Dryden.
2.
Artificial grotto-work.