1
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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 Of course, that doesn’t apply in Trump’s government where merit is completely overridden by groveling and total worship of the president. Letters To The Editor, Orlando Sentinel, 29 Jan. 2025 But the argument that the US has often leveled — that China is a predatory actor on the world stage, using trade and investment to bend countries to its will — has become harder to make in a world where the president of the United States is bragging about the countries coming to grovel before him. Joshua Keating, Vox, 7 Dec. 2018 It is predicated on fealty to the Big Lie, familial ties and a self-deprecating willingness to grovel before indecency. Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 29 Dec. 2024 One moment involves Dickinson smashing up china and making Romy grovel on the floor to pick up the pieces. Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 28 Dec. 2024 See All Example Sentences for grovel
Recent Examples of Synonyms for grovel
Verb
  • Valerie often allowed her vanity and delusion to stand in her way, but also has a certain purity in her desire for mainstream success; viewers on the show’s wavelength might alternately cringe, laugh and feel deeply for her over the course of just a few minutes.
    Daniel D'Addario, Variety, 5 June 2025
  • Come laugh, cringe, and cry through the unfiltered mess no one warned you about.
    Greg Evans, Deadline, 3 June 2025
Verb
  • The men allegedly crawled out of the hole to a loading dock, scaled an exterior concrete wall of the jail complex and darted across a freeway to freedom.
    Kati Weis, CBS News, 29 May 2025
  • The Zenbook crawled to the finish line in every test.
    PC Magazine, PC Magazine, 29 May 2025
Verb
  • Amid tension over OpenAI’s corporate structure, the organization’s corporate development hasn’t so much as flinched.
    Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 30 May 2025
  • Ariane’s first instinctive reaction to her mother’s extended hand is to flinch.
    Stephanie Bunbury, Deadline, 23 May 2025
Verb
  • For years, the Birch Glacier has been creeping down the mountainside, pressured by shifting debris near the summit.
    Dave Graham, Christian Science Monitor, 29 May 2025
  • Despite this, his ownership didn’t creep over the 10 per cent mark until the period around Newcastle’s Double Gameweek 32, with his brace against Leicester City in Gameweek 31 a particular highlight for my season, providing my biggest rank jump of the run-in.
    Holly Shand, New York Times, 28 May 2025
Verb
  • Babbitt and several other rioters sought to break through the barricaded House chamber where lawmakers from both parties cowered in fear for their lives when Byrd shot her.
    Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News, 19 May 2025
  • The Hall might have had the independent spine to do this without MLB’s blessing, but cowered and did not.
    Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 14 May 2025
Verb
  • It’s carved from a snaking mulberry branch and adorned with microchips, with a C.P.U. fan and a small desk clock embedded in the smoothly polished wood near its head.
    Julian Lucas, New Yorker, 29 May 2025
  • The time-lapse video shows a plasmoid snaking across the sun at almost 62 miles (100 kilometers) per second.
    Daisy Dobrijevic, Space.com, 29 May 2025
Verb
  • The water pressure then causes the vehicle to rise and slide on a thin layer of water between the tires and the road, making the driver lose control.
    CA Weather Bot, Sacbee.com, 4 June 2025
  • In another sign of weakening sentiment, the University of Michigan reported that consumer confidence continues to slide.
    , CNBC, 4 June 2025
Verb
  • But Cristescu flagged one way that scammers are taking this tool — which is designed to make people’s online accounts more secure — and using it to slither in.
    Roxana Popescu, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 June 2025
  • The snake slithered all the way past Micheel’s ball before heading into the rough.
    Jacob Lev, CNN Money, 16 May 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Grovel.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/grovel. Accessed 13 Jun. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on grovel

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!