He has been portrayed and voiced by many actors, including Boris Karloff, Hans Conried, Bob Holt, Walter Matthau, Anthony Asbury, Jim Carrey, Rik Mayall, Benedict Cumberbatch, Matthew Morrison, David Howard Thornton, and James Austin Johnson.

The Grinch is depicted as a green, furry, pot-bellied, pear-shaped, snub-nosed humanoid creature with a cat-like face and a cynical personality.

Aided by his pet dog, Max, he meticulously designs a red suit to disguise himself as Santa Claus and breaks into the Whos' homes on Christmas Eve while they sleep to steal everything they own, and dump it off from a nearby mountain.

Although he pulls off the theft successfully, on Christmas morning he is shocked to hear the Whos still singing cheerfully, happy simply to have each other.

In contrast, the 2000 film adaptation provides a backstory in his upbringing: abandoned in infancy in Whoville and left in the cold, unnoticed by the revelers at a Christmas party, the Grinch is taken in by two Who women.

He proves an unruly schoolboy and is bullied by a schoolmate, Augustus May Who (later Whoville's mayor), but falls for a Who girl named Martha May Whovier.

This version bears virtually no resemblance to the later character other than name, instead being a fast-talking salesman in the vein of Sylvester McMonkey McBean from The Sneetches and the Once-ler from Seuss's later book The Lorax.

In 1966, the story was adapted into an animated television featurette of the same name, which was directed by Chuck Jones and included the song "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch".

Several episodes of the 1996 Nick Jr. Channel television show The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss feature the Grinch as the main antagonist, this time in puppet form.

[10] A 2000 live-action feature musical comedy film based on the story, directed by Ron Howard and starring Jim Carrey as the Grinch, was a major success at the box office.

[11] A video game based on the film, simply entitled The Grinch, was released on several consoles and PC in the same year.

The Grinch's story was adapted for a 2018 animated film by Illumination Entertainment, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as the title character.

This leads to an adult, Cindy: who had met the Mean One a long time ago and witnessed him killing her mother, to try to stop his reign of terror and bringing the holiday spirit back to Newville.

In 2023, Outright Games and Casual Brothers Ltd. developed a videogame titled "The Grinch: Christmas Adventure" where you play as both the Grinch and his dog Max as they traverse through 18 levels in Whoville to steal Christmas presents from the Whos, including jigsaw puzzles in order to unlock upgrades.

In Universal Pictures and Illumination's feature film The Grinch directed by Scott Mosier and Yarrow Cheney, he was voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch.

Over the years, the Grinch has appeared on various forms of memorabilia such as Christmas ornaments, plush dolls, and various clothing items.

[12] The grumpy, anti-holiday spirit of the character has led to the everyday term "Grinch"[27][28] coming to refer to a person opposed to Christmas time celebrations[29][30] or to someone with a coarse, greedy attitude.

In the season 19 Christmas special of American Dad!, Roger turns into a Grinch-esque monster due to observing 1 year straight of celibacy and proceeds to steal the coital paraphernalia at a sex party.

[34] A creature based on The Grinch, known as "The Gooch", was added to Grand Theft Auto Online in the 2022 holiday update.

Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham described President of the United States Joe Biden as "the Grinch Who Stole Christmas" on Fox News in 2021, criticising him for delays in the supply chain for US imports.

Tabloid newspaper Metro as well as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak likened him to the Grinch and accused him of wanting to "steal Christmas".

This proposed schedule would require attorneys and support staff to work round-the-clock through the holidays, inevitably disrupting family and travel plans.