grizzled

[vacuumfoam]

When I was a young (non-grizzled) reader, I would often come across this word. Being too lazy (at the time) to stop and look it up, I inferred from context that it meant a scruffy looking older man. Since now I am grizzled to the nth degree, it's comforting to know I'm not scruffy looking (although I have been known to grizzle a bit). However, I do not admit to being griseous; that's just too weird.

Of all the barbarous middle ages, that
Which is most barbarous is the middle age
Of man! it is—I really scarce know what;
But when we hover between fool and sage,
And don't know justly what we would be at—
A period something like a printed page,
Black letter upon foolscap, while our hair
Grows grizzled, and we are not what we were.
--George Gordon Noel Byron

griz·zled
   /ˈgrɪzəld/ Show Spelled[griz-uhld] Show IPA
–adjective
1. having gray or partly gray hair.
2. gray or partly gray.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME. See grizzle1, -ed3

—Related forms
un·griz·zled, adjective

—Can be confused: grisly, gristly, grizzled, grizzly.

griz·zle [griz-uhl] verb,-zled, -zling, adjective, noun
–verb (used without object), verb (used with object)
1. to make or become gray or partly gray.
–adjective
2. gray; grayish; devoid of hue.
–noun
3. gray or partly gray hair.
4. a gray wig.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME grisel < OF, deriv. of gris gray < Gmc; see griseous

griz·zle [griz-uhl]
–verb (used without object),-zled, -zling. British.
1. to complain; whimper; whine.
2. to laugh or grin in mockery; sneer.
Origin:
1740–50; orig. uncert.; cf. MHG grisgramen to gnash one's teeth, G Griesgram sourpuss

—Related forms
grizzler, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.

World English Dictionary
grizzled (ˈɡrɪzəld) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]

—adj
1. streaked or mixed with grey; grizzly; griseous
2. having grey or partly grey hair

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009

Word Origin & History

grizzled
"gray," 1319, from O.Fr. grisel, dim. of gris "gray," from a Frank. source (cf. O.H.G. gris "gray"). The -zz- spelling is c.1425. Grizzly is 1594; grizzly bear (ursus horribilis) is first recorded 1807, but belongs rather to grisly.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Grizzled definition

party-coloured, as goats (Gen. 31:10, 12), horses (Zech. 6:3, 6).
Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary

[LukeJavan8]