Thesaurus results for GROVELED

groveled

verb

variants or grovelled

past tense of grovel

as in cringed

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

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as in crawled

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

Recent Examples of Synonyms for groveled

Verb

Mingione cringed when asked if any of his players had gotten hurt by a hit by pitch.

— Mitch Light, New York Times, 22 May 2026
For a decade, viewers have cringed at Amanda Batula and Kyle Cooke’s rocky relationship, the dénouement of which is currently playing out on season ten of Summer House.

— Rebecca Jennings, Vulture, 1 Apr. 2026

Definition of cringed

Verb

Primus crawled from the same California soup that gave birth to a host of funk-metal acts in the 1980s, following Fishbone, Faith No More, and, most infamously, the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

— Sasha Geffen, Pitchfork, 2 Aug. 2026
Mysterio went for the Three Amigos, but Danhausen blocked the last attempt and crawled to the corner.

— Blake Oestriecher, Forbes.com, 2 Aug. 2026

Definition of crawled

Verb

Sipp slightly flinched his left arm before throwing a pitch to Emmanuel Burriss, allowing Miguel Tejada to score and sending San Francisco to its fourth straight win.

— Assistant Sports Editor, Los Angeles Times, 25 June 2026
The kid never flinched, played almost every game.

— David Aldridge, New York Times, 21 June 2026

Definition of flinched

Verb

With a practice script in hand, Shanahan has crept closer to some offensive drills.

— Cam Inman, Mercury News, 6 Aug. 2026
As the population grew, and construction and pollution crept closer to water sources, many springs have since dried up or receded to thin trickles.

— Umar Farooq, Christian Science Monitor, 6 Aug. 2026

Definition of crept

Verb

Here, too, there were echoes of Keegan’s blissful early days, when queues snaked outside the stadium hours before kick-off and every victory felt like alchemy.

— George Caulkin, New York Times, 30 July 2026
At the bus stop, there was a queue of chartered double-decker buses and a vast crowd, mostly men in blue business suits, snaked four times around the car park, waiting to board the vehicles.

— David Szondy July 23, New Atlas, 23 July 2026

Definition of snaked

Verb

Laura stepped right into her body, felt a small resistance and then the give as the rival slithered, eagerly, into the air.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 13 July 2026
Homeownership feels increasingly out of reach for many Americans, but not for this group of creatures, which slithered into an uninhabited home in Arkansas, much to the chagrin of the realtor trying to sell it.

— Drew Pittock, USA Today, 5 June 2026

Definition of slithered

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.

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grovel

groveled

groveler

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“Groveled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/groveled. Accessed 9 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of groveled

verb

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