Thesaurus results for GROVELLED

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

Relevance

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

Figures depicting the Pink Panther, Spider Man and the Minions have perched or crawled atop the Dome.

— Mandalit del Barco, NPR, 31 July 2026
One of Thursday’s stations included the ‘Confidence Course,’ where campers crawled through tight spaces and wooden obstacles in their heavy gear.

— Julianna Mejia July 31, Kansas City Star, 31 July 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

More three-safety personnel packages have crept onto the field lately, which have given veteran safety and free-agent addition Mike Brown some nickelback duties that usually fall to Marcus Jones.

— Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 30 July 2026
As flames crept closer to Bordeaux, neighboring Spain also oversaw its own fire evacuations.

— Kayla Hayempour, NBC news, 26 July 2026

Definition of crept

Verb

The other customers cowered in the corners, while crowds formed at the windows outside, shrieking and recording the scene on their phones.

— Robert F. Worth, The Atlantic, 10 July 2026
But Wednesday night, they were handed a harsh lesson from a true contender — one that smelled blood against a team that cowered and played scared to death from the 20-minute mark on.

— Michael Russo, New York Times, 14 May 2026

Definition of cowered

Verb

But with Bogaerts already retired, shortstop Willy Adames had to track down Campusano — who had slid early in the base path to remove himself from the play — to record the final out of the inning.

— Jeff Sanders, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 Aug. 2026
For the main course, the lamb kabab slid straight off the skewer, charred on the outside and juicy on the inside.

— Connie Ogle July 31, Miami Herald, 31 July 2026

Definition of slid

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.

Browse Nearby Words

grovel

groveled

groveler

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Groveled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/groveled. Accessed 7 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of groveled

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

invidious

Popular in Grammar & Usage

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

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

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

'Sneaked' or 'Snuck': Which is correct?

Why does English have so many silent letters?

Popular in Wordplay

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Aug. 7

How long is a jiffy?

Popular

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

Games & Quizzes