Thesaurus results for GROVEL

grovel

verb

ˈgrä-vᵊl

as in to cringe

to draw back or crouch down in fearful submission the way in which the abused dog would grovel whenever its owner came near

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as in to crawl

to move slowly with the body close to the ground because of their anatomy, bats can only grovel while moving along the ground

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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 grovel The stringent businessman makes Marty suffer and grovel for his money, at one point exerting his power by spanking the young man’s bare bottom with a wooden ping-pong paddle. —

Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 31 Dec. 2025 For all its faults, Survivor stands as the most influential reality TV show of all time, and to see Probst essentially grovel at the feet of Mr. Beast to get some of his audience share is genuinely icky. —

Joe Reid, Vulture, 19 Dec. 2025 Rather than wait it out until January 2029, when magical thinking assumes the current transatlantic nightmare will come to an end, the EU needs to stop groveling and build greater sovereignty. —

Matthias Matthijs, Foreign Affairs, 12 Dec. 2025 Continue reading … POINTING FINGERS – Former vice president accuses newspaper owners of 'groveling' to Trump in new book. —

FOXNews.com, 24 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for grovel

Recent Examples of Synonyms for grovel

Verb

And the mother of Carter, a 5-year-old boy, cringed in fear when Carter (who was celebrating his birthday) was approached at a neighborhood bike park by a group of much older boys.

— Chris John Amorosino, Hartford Courant, 26 Mar. 2026
The couple cringed at the attention.

— Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Washington Post, 19 Mar. 2026