GROVELLING Synonyms: 71 Similar and Opposite Words

groveling 1 of 2

adjective

variants or grovelling

as in fawning

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

groveling

2 of 2

verb

variants or grovelling

present participle of grovel

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

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

The 76ers, team sources said, had thought about the potential downside of Myers’ pitch being viewed as groveling publicly. — David Aldridge, New York Times, 25 July 2026 Abject, groveling apologies to Moss and everybody on the longevity team! — Guy Martin, Forbes.com, 25 June 2026 Cue the fine and the groveling league apology. — Matt Reigle Outkick, FOXNews.com, 10 May 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 Rather than wait it out until January 2029, when magical thinking assumes the current transatlantic nightmare will come to an end, the EU needs to stop groveling and build greater sovereignty. — Matthias Matthijs, Foreign Affairs, 12 Dec. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for groveling

Adjective

As a friend — her friends all know that Bobbi was singular — ever thoughtful, never obsequious, sometimes obstinate, always honest.

— Lisa Lockwood, Footwear News, 6 July 2026
To cede all of that ground to the executive, and to do so in such an obsequious way, is shameful.

— KEN BURNS, Rolling Stone, 19 May 2026

Definition of obsequious

Verb

They’re wrapped around thumbnails, crawling up ring fingernails, and shining with 3D dewdrops.

— Ariel Wodarcyk, InStyle, 27 July 2026
Fort Hood, Texas, one of the Army's largest bases, has closed one of its dining facilities after a video circulating on X appeared to show dozens of roaches crawling across the walls of the facility's kitchen.

— Steven Beynon, ABC News, 23 July 2026

Definition of crawling

Adjective

Unfortunately, Trump takes servile flattery as his due.

— Robert Kagan, The Atlantic, 19 June 2026
Of course, all of this convenient acquiescence will sound familiar in the United States, where our own Congress and Department of Justice have been nothing if not servile to a brazenly corrupt executive.

— Daniel Alarcón, New Yorker, 4 June 2026

Definition of servile

Verb

One instrument, used without flinching, does what rivals need elaborate machinery to pull off.

— Jamie Beaton, Forbes.com, 21 July 2026
Amy Adams’ Anna Bowden — who has a complicated history with Max as his former lawyer — peeks through the curtain to spy on him, flinching as Max insists on snapping his own broken finger into place.

— Benjamin VanHoose, PEOPLE, 6 July 2026

Definition of flinching

Verb

Many of the dummies evolved admirably over the competition’s final hour, complete with fine laugh lines and subtle details like creeping wisps of nose hair, which were gingerly applied with tweezers and Krazy Glue.

— John Semley, Harpers Magazine, 28 July 2026
The surge in short interest coincides with a decidedly bearish sentiment creeping into what had been a relentlessly bullish AI trade.

— Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 23 July 2026

Definition of creeping

Adjective

Like all other generative chatbots, its replies are sycophantic.

— Jill Duffy, PC Magazine, 17 June 2026
In an interview with Mostly Human spotted by MacRumors, Craig Federighi said Apple’s new Siri won’t act all sycophantic like chatbots made by OpenAI, Google, and others.

— Thomas Ricker, The Verge, 12 June 2026

Definition of sycophantic

Verb

Originally housing offices, its heyday in Detroit’s industrial age was brief, sliding into decline in the 1960s and ultimately going vacant.

— Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 30 July 2026
In the meantime, relatively strong iPhone and Mac sales in this quarter didn’t stop Apple’s stock value from sliding around eight percent in after-hours trading.

— Samuel Axon, ArsTechnica, 30 July 2026

Definition of sliding

Browse Nearby Words

grovelers

groveling

grovels

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Groveling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/groveling. Accessed 4 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of groveling

adjective

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

élan

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

Dutch Treat and French Leave: Eight Place-Based Compounds

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

How long is a jiffy?

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

Popular

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Dutch Treat and French Leave: Eight Place-Based Compounds

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Games & Quizzes