De Ferranti Glossary: "Grotesque"

Glossary: G

Grotesque
When used in conversation, grotesque commonly means strange, fantastic, ugly or bizarre, and thus is often used to describe weird shapes and distorted forms such as Halloween masks or gargoyles on churches. More specifically, the grotesque forms on Gothic buildings, when not used as drainspouts, should not be called gargoyles, but rather referred to simply as grotesques, or chimeras.