Grotesque

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

In Architecture

While often confused with gargoyles, these stone carvings are not born from the general form of a water spout. Rather, they may take any number of upright positions.

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