grumbled

verb

past tense of grumble
1
as in complained
to express dissatisfaction, pain, or resentment usually tiresomely he grumbled about how sore his feet were after standing all day

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in growled
to make a low heavy rolling sound heavily loaded trucks grumbling as they passed over the steel bridge

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 grumbled 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 Some soccer purists grumbled about the World Cup expanding this year from 32 to 48 teams. — Michael Cunningham, AJC.com, 29 June 2026 While diehards have grumbled about the two intervals, which enable media partners to air as many as 10 in-match commercials per game, the opportunity to squeeze some extra revenue out of the FIFA mandate has been too lucrative for Fox to pass up. — Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 17 June 2026 Fans grumbled and became apathetic. — Henry Bushnell, New York Times, 14 June 2026 The two-time Masters champion spun, glared at the spectator, grumbled under his breath and seemed to point out the person to security. — CBS News, 18 May 2026 At a Cannes where some have grumbled about a paucity of studio movies (and thus stars), the absence of Scarlett Johansson at last night’s premiere of Paper Tiger was notable. — Tom Tapp, Deadline, 17 May 2026 The two-time Masters champion spun, glared at the spectator, grumbled under his breath and seemed to point out the person to security. — ABC News, 17 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for grumbled
  1. complained
  2. growled
  3. screamed
  4. rumbled
  5. whined
  6. muttered
  7. moaned
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
  • 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
Definition of growled
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
  • 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
  • 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
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
  • Coach Arne Slot moaned about VAR but his problems lie much closer to home.
    — Phil Hay, New York Times, 4 May 2026
  • Critics moaned when the CFP committee picked the Hurricanes over Notre Dame as the last Power 4 entry into the playoffs.
    — Chris Hays, The Orlando Sentinel, 13 Jan. 2026
Definition of moaned

Browse Nearby Words

grumble
grumbled
grumbler
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Cite this Entry

“Grumbled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/grumbled. Accessed 18 Jul. 2026.

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