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The English language has been carrying a grudge for a long time—since the 13th century to be exact, when it took the Anglo-French verb grucher/grucer and made it grucchen/grudgen. Both words meant “to grumble and complain” (and if their shared definition, combined with their spelling and pronunciation, reminds you of a certain furry green Muppet who lives in a trash can, you’re onto something: grouch is thought to be a grucchen descendant). Over time grucchen/grudgen became grudge, which picked up the additional, closely related meanings of “to be unwilling to give or allow” and “to allow with reluctance or resentment,” as when Virginia Woolf wrote “if you come to grudge even the sun for shining … fruit does not ripen.” Grudging, which developed from grudge, made its English debut in the 1530s, and has been used ever since to describe someone who is unwilling or reluctant (“a grudging supporter”) or something done or given reluctantly or sparingly (“grudging respect”).
Examples of grudging in a Sentence
Ruth Marcus,
New Yorker,
26 June 2026
Three structural fixes would convert most opposition into grudging acceptance, and even a meaningful share of that opposition into active support.
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Warren Wimmer,
Mercury News,
24 June 2026
But the pair have a grudging mutual respect that makes for a fun, strange-bedfellows partnership.
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Peter White,
Deadline,
4 May 2026
The spread of such prohibitions raises the counterintuitive possibility that tobacco bans are in fact a consequence of grudging toleration, rather than a departure from it.
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Charles Fain Lehman,
The Atlantic,
4 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for grudging
Cite this Entry
“Grudging.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grudging. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
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