groveling 1 of 2

variants or grovelling

groveling

2 of 2

verb

variants or grovelling
present participle of grovel
1
as in cringing
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

2
as in crawling
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 groveling
Verb
Continue reading … POINTING FINGERS – Former vice president accuses newspaper owners of 'groveling' to Trump in new book. FOXNews.com, 24 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for groveling
Verb
  • Encouraged to see Jones sorta respond, Mackie kept babbling on and on and on about his dad, unaware that everyone else in the room was cringing.
    Lisa Gutierrez, Kansas City Star, 25 Oct. 2025
  • But the aftermath of the videos left many Democrats cringing, Republican candidates pouncing, and political observers wondering how voters would respond.
    Nicole Nixon, Sacbee.com, 14 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • His fur was singed and bitten, his arm broken, and his mouth crawling with maggots.
    Alice Gibbs, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2025
  • Amazon has already taken steps in recent months to prevent external AI agents from crawling its website, including those developed by OpenAI, Google and Meta.
    Ashley Capoot,Annie Palmer, CNBC, 4 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • Western leaders have sought to paper over these inconvenient truths, including at their June G-7 and NATO summits, with obsequious efforts to flatter, humor, and cajole Trump.
    Stewart Patrick, Foreign Affairs, 18 Sep. 2025
  • Von der Leyen did not appear obsequious in her meeting with Trump.
    Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 29 July 2025
Verb
  • Ross passed the day's examination with flying colors – barely flinching at the rubber chicken.
    Laura L. Davis, Nashville Tennessean, 6 Oct. 2025
  • Skubal, apparently flinching with the noise, balked for only the second time in his career.
    Cody Stavenhagen, New York Times, 24 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Domestically, the president is also navigating creeping inflation that is threatening his party’s prospects in the midterm elections, with Democrats staking their return to power on fears of an affordability crisis.
    David Sivak, The Washington Examiner, 31 Oct. 2025
  • But with Neo stepping into the household and taking on labor like housekeeping, job-seekers may have to compete with AI innovations creeping into the blue-collar world.
    Jessica Coacci, Fortune, 31 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Bahrain is ruled by Sunnis and has a mostly Shiite population permanently restless over its servile condition.
    Graeme Wood, The Atlantic, 13 June 2025
  • His servile defense secretary has threatened to deploy the military in other cities.
    Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 13 June 2025
Verb
  • Or are the Seminoles at risk of sliding into irrelevance if trips to the Gator Bowl become acceptable?
    Matt Baker, New York Times, 2 Nov. 2025
  • There, people held the bus with their hands to keep it from sliding down to the next tier.
    Ryan Knighton, AFAR Media, 31 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • What becomes abundantly clear is that Toklas was far more than the silent sycophantic partner.
    Daphne Merkin, The Atlantic, 31 Oct. 2025
  • By August, Ars reported on cases where ChatGPT's sycophantic behavior had validated users' false beliefs to the point of causing mental health crises, and news of the aforementioned suicide lawsuit hit not long after.
    ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 15 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Groveling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/groveling. Accessed 8 Nov. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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