Thesaurus results for GROVEL

grovel

verb

ˈgrä-vᵊl

Definition of grovel

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

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 Here the adult narrator creates an atmosphere closer to Schulz’s erotic drawings, obsessively filled with images of the artist himself groveling at the feet of lithe young women. — Diana Arterian, Literary Hub, 12 Feb. 2026 Political courage is needed, especially from the cowardly, groveling Congress. — Edward Lotterman, Twin Cities, 18 Jan. 2026 That’s the saddest cash-grab gimmick ever, groveling for Dubai dollars. — Sports Columnist, San Francisco Chronicle, 11 Jan. 2026 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 See All Example Sentences for grovel

Recent Examples of Synonyms for grovel

Verb

Seven years have passed since Cats, but the spectacular musical flop still makes Judi Dench cringe.

— Jake Kanter, Deadline, 20 Oct. 2026
And finally, another one of Wang’s creations mocks Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine’s infamously cringe sexts by showing the pop star losing his mind to a picture of Jolly’s derriere in an Instagram DM.

— Frank Landymore, Futurism, 24 Sep. 2026

Definition of cringe

Verb

On thinner material, that gives you a fighting chance at keeping heat and warpage under control without crawling along at a miserable pace.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 22 Oct. 2026
The bystander told the woman to get down on the floor before crawling into the home beneath the heaviest heat and dragging her to safety, according to the fire department.

— Richard Ramos, CBS News, 21 Oct. 2026

Definition of crawl

Verb

During the Wildcats' first attempt on the two-point conversion, a Kentucky player appeared to flinch, and while a flag was thrown, it was negated by a timeout called by the Wildcats.

— Mark Harris OutKick, FOXNews.com, 12 Oct. 2026
While Levi’s had been making a lot of noise about being a DTC-first retailer, in an interview with WWD, Gass emphasized the importance of a broad base and didn’t flinch away from what went wrong in DTC.

— Evan Clark, Footwear News, 7 Oct. 2026

Definition of flinch

Verb

By spring, with the opportunity fading for a mass relocation of homes and businesses, optimism crept back into public discourse.

— Abe Streep, ProPublica, 21 Oct. 2026
Port-au-Prince, Haiti — Trees wrap around buildings, roots sprout from riverbeds of plastic trash, and vines creep down the street.

— Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of creep

Verb

The prosecution said the trajectory of the bullet showed that Jean was either getting up from his couch or cowering when Guyger fired at him.

— Matt Lavietes, NBC news, 1 Oct. 2026
Stuhlbarg, whose Vice President tends to cower in terror in the corner of the frame, becomes particularly evident as the movie’s comic secret weapon upon closer examination.

— Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of cower

Verb

Longtime collaborator Erik Blood foregrounds Butler’s dry drum machines in the mix, letting every other element shuffle around them, snaking toward the spotlight for a brief moment and retreating back into the brume.

— Dash Lewis, Pitchfork, 23 Oct. 2026
Arthur Russell — Hall’s primary musical collaborator and the artist most associated with his own work — lived on the top floor, a cord of bootleg electricity snaking up from Ginsberg’s window to his apartment.

— Jack Denton, Vulture, 22 Oct. 2026

Definition of snake

Verb

Python, in particular, slithered into several of our favorite looks, as seen on this showgoer with a distressed leather jacket, croc-effect leather skirt, and roomy Miu Miu tote.

— Laura Jackson, Vogue, 20 Oct. 2026
Here are five ways to make your Halloween display friendlier to the creatures that fly, slither and scurry through your yard.

— Katie Koschalk, Scientific American, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of slither

Browse Nearby Words

grove

grovel

groveled

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Grovel.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/grovel. Accessed 25 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of grovel

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

emissary

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

Popular in Wordplay

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Oct. 23

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Popular

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes