growled

verb

past tense of growl
1
as in complained
to express dissatisfaction, pain, or resentment usually tiresomely he was growling about how much work he had to do

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in roared
to make a long loud deep noise or cry the neighbor's dog growls every time we pass the house

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in rumbled
to make a low heavy rolling sound I'm sorry my stomach is growling, but I'm just really hungry

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 growled Jack White, who growled and grinded as the singer/guitarist of the White Stripes and has since positioned himself as a primal rock god on his own, is showing a new side as a sculptor with a show opening in a London gallery run by none other than Damien Hirst. — Andy Battaglia, ARTnews.com, 22 May 2026 Mira growled into her watch, excitedly. — Anna Wiener, New Yorker, 4 May 2026 The wereboar growled next to Black Pudding, a hulking vicious monster, both focused on ripping Puck and Cordelia to shreds. — Jaclyn Cosgrove, Los Angeles Times, 10 Apr. 2026 The jaguar growled, whirled and bit off the protruding head of the arrow. — Delbert L. Chears, Outdoor Life, 5 Mar. 2026 Come on, the gunman growled, turning and walking and beckoning with the pistol for Adi to follow. — Jonathan Miles, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026 The dog growled and Esposito slowed his pace. — René Guzman, San Antonio Express-News, 21 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for growled
  1. complained
  2. roared
  3. rumbled
  4. screamed
  5. bellowed
  6. grumbled
  7. muttered
  8. whined
Verb
  • Soon, some employees complained that creating large language models was much different from creating hardware, per Bloomberg, believing Musk didn’t understand AI.
    — Frank Landymore, Futurism, 16 July 2026
  • The exploit, which multiple researchers say works, is sending Microsoft scrambling, yet again, to patch a zero-day released by an anonymous researcher who has complained about the software maker’s handling of their bug reports.
    — Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 15 July 2026
Definition of complained
Verb
  • Massive amounts of rocks and soil roared down a slope and buried more than 10 residential buildings early Friday in Pengshui County on the outskirts of Chongqing.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 19 July 2026
  • When Sam Kerr sprinted onto the Citi Field pitch in her official return to the NWSL on Wednesday night, the sellout crowd of 42,175 fans in New York City roared.
    — Melanie Anzidei, New York Times, 16 July 2026
Definition of roared
Verb
  • New York City horse racing rumbled to the finish line Sunday, as Aqueduct Racetrack — in all its paint-peeling, dilapidated glory — staged the venue’s last live races, transporting aging fans to a bygone era.
    — Lili Kobielski, NBC news, 29 June 2026
  • The building rumbled before the two finalists even got physical.
    — Alfred Konuwa, Forbes.com, 27 June 2026
Definition of rumbled
Verb
  • One passenger, identified only as Christina, told Thessaloniki radio that passengers panicked and screamed and that one passenger was partially sucked out of the window.
    — Costas Kantouris, Los Angeles Times, 10 July 2026
  • There was no pomp and circumstance by Haaland, though his teammates screamed and jumped on his back.
    — Scott Thompson, FOXNews.com, 5 July 2026
Definition of screamed
Verb
  • Harbour bellowed as co-star Winona Ryder, by his side, made an expression of amazement that turned into a meme.
    — Daniel D'Addario, Variety, 10 June 2026
  • After one match against Wolverhampton Wanderers in December 2021, when City had won 1-0 but had played sloppily in the final minutes, Guardiola bellowed at the subs and youth teamers who had not actually contributed.
    — Sam Lee, New York Times, 25 May 2026
Definition of bellowed
Verb
  • American consumers have grumbled about higher gas prices, but the S&P 500 is up almost 9 percent since the joint American-Israeli operation that started the war in February.
    — Idrees Kahloon, The Atlantic, 9 July 2026
  • The congresswoman, her staffer and I grumbled about how unpredictable the House schedule has been lately.
    — Zachary Schermele, USA Today, 1 July 2026
Definition of grumbled
Verb
  • Bat met ball and, under his breath, Astros manager Joe Espada muttered an expletive.
    — Chandler Rome, New York Times, 29 June 2026
  • In the shadows of the long-hut, the elders muttered among themselves—of portents and crops and weather and the storage of grain.
    — Maggie O’Farrell, Literary Hub, 2 June 2026
Definition of muttered
Verb
  • After a few casts, Rubye’s rod bent, and the reel whined as line spooled out.
    — John Todd, Outdoor Life, 9 July 2026
  • Traffic hummed and whined on I-85.
    — Thomas Lake, AJC.com, 13 May 2026
Definition of whined

Browse Nearby Words

growl
growled
growler
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Cite this Entry

“Growled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/growled. Accessed 22 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on growled

Nglish: Translation of growled for Spanish Speakers

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