Meanings
- colloquialhumorousuncountableThe study of things that are indelicate or gross.
Welcome to the world of yuck, or what the academic world calls grossology.
2010, New Scientist, Mick O'Hare, How to Make a Tornado: The strange and wonderful things that happen when scientists break free2 more examples
Hilarious fables for the modern kid interested in grossology tell about a musk ox and cabbage who are appalled by a skunk's smell, an echidna who swallows her new friend ant, and lunch buddies no one wants to have around—shark, wasp, and bacteria.
2008, Jan Irving, Story Celebrations: A Program Guide for Schools and LibrariesDad's been a big proponent of the grossology trend in science museums: meaning he creates exhibits about things like boogers and farts. It's a little too much for me, but Dad loves it.
2010, Veronica Chambers, Plus
Origin
From gross + -ology, invented by the writer Sylvia Branzei as a title of her 1992 non-fiction children’s book Grossology.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
grossology. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/grossology
“grossology.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/grossology. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “grossology,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/grossology.
Source: grossology on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.