as in complaining
to express dissatisfaction, pain, or resentment usually tiresomely
hasn't stopped grousing since we started this vacation
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Recent Examples of grousing
For all of you grousing that the Broncos could have just drafted a player like Waddle, Payton has not developed his Nik Bonitto on offense as Vance Joseph has on defense.
—
Troy Renck, Denver Post, 18 Mar. 2026
In the movie’s first dramatic scene, achingly redolent of memory, the brothers—the older is eleven, the younger eight—loll in front of their family’s house, snacking, grousing, playing with paper action figures, trying to fill the solitude and the silence around them with banter and bravado.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 6 Feb. 2026
Twin could hear her neighbors grousing but unable to swallow their anger and spit out her own.
—Literary Hub, 29 Jan. 2026
Here, Lee gets at the crux of his self-satire, as well as the grousing anti-capitalism of Kurosawa’s original movie, in which the protagonist has also let business cloud his moral judgment.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 19 Aug. 2025
Troy Renck, Denver Post, 18 Mar. 2026
In the movie’s first dramatic scene, achingly redolent of memory, the brothers—the older is eleven, the younger eight—loll in front of their family’s house, snacking, grousing, playing with paper action figures, trying to fill the solitude and the silence around them with banter and bravado.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 6 Feb. 2026
Twin could hear her neighbors grousing but unable to swallow their anger and spit out her own.
—Literary Hub, 29 Jan. 2026
Here, Lee gets at the crux of his self-satire, as well as the grousing anti-capitalism of Kurosawa’s original movie, in which the protagonist has also let business cloud his moral judgment.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 19 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for grousing
Verb
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As of today, however, not everyone is complaining.—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
5 Apr. 2026
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Late last year, a group of advocates successfully pushed the city to expand an off-leash area for dogs at MacArthur Park after complaining that the city lacked adequate space for animals to roam.—
Hannah Elsmore,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
4 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Linebacker Oh, linebacker, a position screaming out for help and coming away with nothing, much like most Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight tackle attempts in the first half of last season.—
Paul Dehner Jr,
New York Times,
7 Apr. 2026
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In the video, recorded by Mortensen on his cellphone, Paul can be seen screaming and throwing metal chairs, one of which struck one of her children who witnessed the altercation, according to the criminal indictment.—
Yvonne Villarreal,
Los Angeles Times,
7 Apr. 2026
Verb
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For the puppy, leaving its mother and littermates can be stressful at first, and crying or whining is normal.—
Lucy Notarantonio,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Mar. 2026
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Or get ready for a lot of groaning and whining.—
Keely Doll,
Louisville Courier Journal,
25 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Grousing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/grousing. Accessed 11 Apr. 2026.
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