slang shortening of grotesque, it had a brief vogue 1964 as part of the argot popularized by The Beatles in "A Hard Day's Night." It unconsciously echoes Middle English groti "muddy, slimy," from Old English grotig "earthy," from grot "particle."
(Variations: grody or groaty or groddy or groady; to the max may be added) Disgusting; nasty; repellent; bizarre; grungy, scuzzy: The magazines had covers with those grotty weirdos on them
noun: the introspective hedonism and political individualism of the second group, called groddies
[mid-1960s+ Teenagers; fr grotesque; popularized by the Beatles in the 1960s; perhaps fr Merseyside dialect]