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
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Recent Examples of grinch
Tired of looking like the grinch (can't help the hair).
—
David Faris, Newsweek, 27 Feb. 2025
The Pompano Beach, Fla. doesn’t play grinch alone; Veeze, Lil Yachty, Rob49, Juvenile, and B.G. also appear on the project.
—Preezy Brown, VIBE.com, 27 Dec. 2024
Buy Now 08 of 26 'How My Neighbor Stole Christmas' by Meghan Quinn
A neighborhood grinch learns the true meaning of Christmas courtesy of his sunshiny neighbor in How My Neighbor Stole Christmas.
—Sabienna Bowman, People.com, 14 Dec. 2024
But seriously, the Freedom Caucus and anti-establishment wing that ousted McCarthy over cutting that initial spending deal stands ready to be the grinch in this scenario.
—Leah Askarinam, ABC News, 21 Nov. 2023
American President Donald Trump doesn’t want to be the grinch that stole Christmas.
—Vicki M. Young, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2019
David Faris, Newsweek, 27 Feb. 2025
The Pompano Beach, Fla. doesn’t play grinch alone; Veeze, Lil Yachty, Rob49, Juvenile, and B.G. also appear on the project.
—Preezy Brown, VIBE.com, 27 Dec. 2024
Buy Now 08 of 26 'How My Neighbor Stole Christmas' by Meghan Quinn
A neighborhood grinch learns the true meaning of Christmas courtesy of his sunshiny neighbor in How My Neighbor Stole Christmas.
—Sabienna Bowman, People.com, 14 Dec. 2024
But seriously, the Freedom Caucus and anti-establishment wing that ousted McCarthy over cutting that initial spending deal stands ready to be the grinch in this scenario.
—Leah Askarinam, ABC News, 21 Nov. 2023
American President Donald Trump doesn’t want to be the grinch that stole Christmas.
—Vicki M. Young, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for grinch
Noun
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On the other hand, skeptics and cynics tend to be insistent right now that the clean-up activity is not going to last very long.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
18 Sep. 2025
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Travis Kelce knows what the cynics might think of his relationship with Taylor Swift — two of the most famous people in America just happen to match up perfectly?—
Jason P. Frank,
Vulture,
12 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The wing on the back of the GTD is active, flipping up at speed, just like the drag reduction system (DRS) on a Formula 1 car.—
Tim Stevens,
Robb Report,
23 Oct. 2025
-
The foundation’s analysis attributes the acceleration to a combination of deficit spending, rising interest costs, and the economic drag of the ongoing government shutdown.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
22 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Stay a while Another eclipse killjoy?—
Maya Silver,
Outside,
21 Oct. 2025
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Nauseatingly innocent and a self-righteous killjoy, April seems to have existed solely for the purpose of making everyone else on Grey's Anatomy look worlds more interesting.—
Marc Snetiker,
Entertainment Weekly,
3 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Key West native Mario Palazon of FreshCo Fish Market & Grill in Kendall, who has been in the seafood wholesale business for more than 20 years, says that his suppliers have been catching a record number of crabs.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
25 Oct. 2025
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To accommodate the crabs' safe journey to the sea, Christmas Island residents typically keep rakes and leaf blowers in their cars to help the crustaceans on their way, the outlet reported.—
Rachel Raposas,
PEOPLE,
22 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Inevitably, violence erupts, both spontaneously, when a drug deal goes sour, and by design, when a spoilsport has to be eliminated.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
21 Aug. 2025
-
The spoilsports need to get back to their home state and do the job which their constituents elected them to do.—
Letters to the Editor,
The Orlando Sentinel,
8 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The faculty experience has been that administrations often side with the complainers.—
Louis Menand,
New Yorker,
26 Sep. 2025
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Recognize Quieter Customers Celebrate the non-complainers.—
Expert Panel®,
Forbes.com,
11 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Experts said the Louvre robbery bore many of the hallmarks of these crimes, including getting away on motorbikes, entering the property in broad daylight and using brute force.—
N'dea Yancey-Bragg,
USA Today,
22 Oct. 2025
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Meanwhile, Palestinian doctors said some of the roughly 120 bodies Israel has returned to Gaza bore signs of torture or execution, and most had bands on their necks, the Associated Press reported.—
Sophie Carson,
jsonline.com,
17 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The biggest party poopers recently have been Croatia, another European nation who finished second and third at the World Cups in 2018 and 2022 respectively.—
Michael Cox,
New York Times,
11 Oct. 2025
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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
Cite this Entry
“Grinch.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/grinch. Accessed 26 Oct. 2025.
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