  We have studied the giant dipole resonance (GDR) in the hot and rotating
nucleus $^{152}$Gd within the framework of thermal shape fluctuation model
(TSFM) built on the microscopic-macroscopic calculations of the free energies
with a macroscopic approach for the GDR. Our results for GDR cross sections are
in good agreement with the experimental values except for a component peaking
around 17 MeV where the data has large uncertainties. Such a component is
beyond our description which properly takes care of the splitting of GDR
components due to the deformation and Coriolis effects. Around this 17 MeV lies
the half maximum in experimental cross sections, and hence the extracted GDR
widths and deformations (estimated from these widths) turn out to be
overestimated and less reliable. Reproducing these widths with empirical
formulae could conceal the information contained in the cross sections. Fully
microscopic GDR calculations and a more careful look at the data could be
useful to understand the GDR component around 17 MeV. We also discuss the
occurrence of $\gamma$-softness in the free energy surfaces of $^{152}$Gd and
its role on GDR.
