diff --git a/package/AUTHORS b/package/AUTHORS
index abb69d77ecd..f099acb744c 100644
--- a/package/AUTHORS
+++ b/package/AUTHORS
@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@ Chronological list of authors
   - Vedant Rathore
   - Xiki Tempula
   - Akshay Gupta
+  - Juan Eiros Zamora
 
 External code
 -------------
diff --git a/package/CHANGELOG b/package/CHANGELOG
index d9c9a19d10a..6b4738a1561 100644
--- a/package/CHANGELOG
+++ b/package/CHANGELOG
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ The rules for this file:
   * 0.16.0
 
 Enhancements
+  * Improved __str__ and __repr__ of 'GroupBase' class in
+    MDAnalysis.core.groups (addresses Issue #1223)
   * Added dynamic selections (addresses Issues #175 and #1074).
   * Added 'MemoryReader' class to allow manipulation of trajectory data
     in-memory, which can provide substantial speed-ups to certain
diff --git a/package/MDAnalysis/core/groups.py b/package/MDAnalysis/core/groups.py
index 876a4b44cd3..2031147fcc8 100644
--- a/package/MDAnalysis/core/groups.py
+++ b/package/MDAnalysis/core/groups.py
@@ -368,6 +368,15 @@ def __repr__(self):
                 "".format(name.capitalize(), len(self), name,
                 "s"[len(self)==1:])) # Shorthand for a conditional plural 's'.
 
+    def __str__(self):
+        name = self.level.name
+        if len(self) <= 10:
+            return '<{}Group {}>'.format(name.capitalize(), repr(list(self)))
+        else:
+            return '<{}Group {}, ..., {}>'.format(name.capitalize(),
+                                                  repr(list(self)[:3])[:-1],
+                                                  repr(list(self)[-3:])[1:])
+
     def __add__(self, other):
         """Concatenate the Group with another Group or Component of the same
         level.
@@ -1649,8 +1658,6 @@ class ResidueGroup(GroupBase):
     specific to ResidueGroups.
 
     """
-    def __repr__(self):
-        return '<ResidueGroup {}>'.format(repr(list(self.residues)))
 
     @property
     def atoms(self):
@@ -1748,8 +1755,6 @@ class SegmentGroup(GroupBase):
     SegmentGroups.
 
     """
-    def __repr__(self):
-        return '<SegmentGroup {}>'.format(repr(list(self.segments)))
 
     @property
     def atoms(self):
diff --git a/testsuite/MDAnalysisTests/core/test_groups.py b/testsuite/MDAnalysisTests/core/test_groups.py
index 6c988a6016b..3697b3fff8f 100644
--- a/testsuite/MDAnalysisTests/core/test_groups.py
+++ b/testsuite/MDAnalysisTests/core/test_groups.py
@@ -550,10 +550,34 @@ def test_atomgroup_repr(self):
         ag = self.u.atoms[:10]
         assert_(repr(ag) == '<AtomGroup with 10 atoms>')
 
+    def test_atomgroup_str_short(self):
+        ag = self.u.atoms[:2]
+        assert_(str(ag) == '<AtomGroup [<Atom 1: N of type 56 of resname MET, resid 1 and segid 4AKE>, <Atom 2: HT1 of type 2 of resname MET, resid 1 and segid 4AKE>]>')
+
+    def test_atomgroup_str_long(self):
+        ag = self.u.atoms[:11]
+        assert_(str(ag).startswith('<AtomGroup [<Atom 1: N of type 56 of resname MET,'))
+        assert_('...' in str(ag))
+        assert_(str(ag).endswith(', resid 1 and segid 4AKE>]>'))
+
     def test_residuegroup_repr(self):
         rg = self.u.residues[:10]
-        assert_(repr(rg).startswith('<ResidueGroup [<Residue MET, 1>, '))
+        assert_(repr(rg) == '<ResidueGroup with 10 residues>')
+
+    def test_residuegroup_str_short(self):
+        rg = self.u.residues[:2]
+        assert_(str(rg) == '<ResidueGroup [<Residue MET, 1>, <Residue ARG, 2>]>')
+
+    def test_residuegroup_str_long(self):
+        rg = self.u.residues[:11]
+        assert_(str(rg).startswith('<ResidueGroup [<Residue MET, 1>,'))
+        assert_('...' in str(rg))
+        assert_(str(rg).endswith(', <Residue ALA, 11>]>'))
 
     def test_segmentgroup_repr(self):
         sg = self.u.segments[:10]
-        assert_(repr(sg) == '<SegmentGroup [<Segment 4AKE>]>')
+        assert_(repr(sg) == '<SegmentGroup with 1 segment>')
+
+    def test_segmentgroup_str(self):
+        sg = self.u.segments[:10]
+        assert_(str(sg) == '<SegmentGroup [<Segment 4AKE>]>')