Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Grotesgue \Gro*tesgue"\, a. [F., fr. It. grottesco, fr. grotta
   grotto. See {Grotto}.]
   Like the figures found in ancient grottoes; grottolike;
   wildly or strangely formed; whimsical; extravagant; of
   irregular forms and proportions; fantastic; ludicrous; antic.
   ``Grotesque design.'' --Dryden. ``Grotesque incidents.''
   --Macaulay.