as in complaining
to express dissatisfaction, pain, or resentment usually tiresomely
hasn't stopped grousing since we started this vacation
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of grousing
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
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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More recently, a project to construct community hubs for each of Harvey’s six wards has been in limbo, with residents complaining about the blight created by the unfinished construction sites at the most recent City Council meeting.—
Evy Lewis,
Chicago Tribune,
27 Feb. 2026
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Everybody’s complaining about somebody.—
Miami Herald Archives,
Miami Herald,
27 Feb. 2026
Verb
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As the nation bonded as one over the past two weeks biting nails, screaming at wins, wincing at crashes and choking up at all the beautiful moments of Olympic competition, another group of athletes were – and still are – out honing their multi-level championship skills.—
Moira McCarthy,
Boston Herald,
25 Feb. 2026
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People went ballistic—cursing, yelling, screaming, all kinds of threats.—
Andrew Norman Wilson,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Extra points are awarded here to families who avoid any whining about this.—
Moira McCarthy,
Boston Herald,
25 Feb. 2026
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Recognize signs of hypothermia The signs of hypothermia in pets are whining, shivering, anxiety, slowing down, or looking for a warm place to burrow.—
Alexa Herrera,
CBS News,
23 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Grousing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/grousing. Accessed 2 Mar. 2026.
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