grinch

noun

ˈgrinch How to pronounce grinch (audio)
Definition of grinchnext
as in cynic
a person who spoils the pleasure of others accused the mayor of being a grinch after he cancelled the city's annual holiday parade for budgetary reasons

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of grinch However, a grinch mascot, who was on cleanup duty at the event, stepped in and saved the wedding, per WTAE. — Kimberlee Speakman, PEOPLE, 28 Aug. 2026 The nonprofit donated almost $200,000 to the church for the materials a grinch stole. — Dawn White, CBS News, 10 Dec. 2025 To play off the flavor of the candy, the grinch-green dough has a subtle cinnamon flavor of its own. — Alana Al-Hatlani, Southern Living, 30 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for grinch
  1. cynic
  2. drag
  3. killjoy
  4. crab
  5. spoilsport
  6. complainer
  7. bore
  8. party pooper
Noun
  • Williams led the Bears to an NFC North title and a playoff victory last season, but some cynics think the Bears are due for a regression this season.
    — Dan Santaromita, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026
  • That the earnestness the genre requires galls us cynics, who love to hide in our books, away from all those pesky bodies in the first place?
    — Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of cynic
Noun
  • This capital intensive model forces SpaceX to rely heavily on debt financing or external liquidity to bridge cash deficits, a dynamic analysts warn remains a key drag on market sentiment.
    — , CNBC, 21 Oct. 2026
  • This reduces the turbulence around the suspension and in the trailer’s wake, and lowers the aerodynamic drag.
    — Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of drag
Noun
  • In the end, at the risk of sounding like a killjoy, a real way to save the planet and save money is to just buy and produce less.
    — Kara McGrath, Allure, 22 Apr. 2026
  • Which poem, and why did the killjoys at the magazine turn it down?
    — Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 22 Mar. 2026
Definition of killjoy
Noun
  • Some species and some areas are worse off than others, but the general trend is bad, including for the state’s other two iconic seafood catches, halibut and crab.
    — Zach Helfand, New Yorker, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Scallop crudo, a wedge salad piled with jumbo lump crab and sharpened with wasabi dressing, and a lobster roll with saffron coleslaw sit comfortably alongside American classics like a double cheeseburger and fries.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of crab
Noun
  • The first thing Sweetpea does, after ditching her spoilsport colleague at the hotel, is pay a visit to SwiftGC, a payment processor recently acquired by Tender.
    — Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 6 Feb. 2026
  • Granted, this might simply be an old-fashioned spoilsport way to view the market.
    — Michael Santoli, CNBC, 10 Jan. 2026
Definition of spoilsport
Noun
  • My ‘Deborah Vance Show senior writer’ persona was kind of a rude complainer with an incipient alcohol problem.
    — Merrill Markoe, Deadline, 21 Aug. 2026
  • Are they deluded into thinking that the complainers are just a squeaky wheel minority and the majority of fans are happy with it?
    — Jeremy Rutherford, New York Times, 13 July 2026
Definition of complainer
Noun
  • Many farmers rely on bore water, but some say their wells have been pumped dry by the gas industry, and their water is now being offered to the developers to help build the AI data center.
    — Hilary Whiteman, CNN Money, 26 Oct. 2026
  • Legend held that the Roman race had sprung from Mount Ida in Troy, whose name Cybele bore—Magna Mater Idaea.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of bore
Noun
  • But none of the Premier League’s refs or growing cohort of specialist VARs revel in the role of party pooper.
    — Graham Scott, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2026
  • But in their quest to make history, the guests turned into party poopers.
    — The San Diego Union Tribune, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 Sep. 2025
Definition of party pooper

Browse Nearby Words

grin
grinch
grinches
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Cite this Entry

“Grinch.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/grinch. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

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