Gradgrind

English

Etymology

From Thomas Gradgrind, a pedantic teacher in Charles Dickens' Hard Times (1854).

Noun

Gradgrind (plural Gradgrinds)

1. One who relies solely on scientific measurements and observable facts without taking human nature into consideration.
   • 1860 June, “Representative Art”, in The Atlantic Monthly‎^[1], volume 5, number 32:

     They do just what all the practical men of this practical age are doing, what even the Gradgrinds are doing: they embody ideas; they put thoughts into facts.

   • 1905, H. G. Wells, A Modern Utopia‎^[2]:

     “I was purring. I'm a Gradgrind—it's quite right—anything you can say about Herbert Spencer, vivisectors, materialistic Science or Atheists, applies without correction to me. […] ”

   • 1916, Arthur B. Reeve, The Ear in the Wall‎^[3]:

     He was a veritable Gradgrind for facts, facts, facts.

Derived terms

• Gradgrindery
• Gradgrindian
• Gradgrindish
• Gradgrindism