grunt 1 of 2

1
as in grunting
speech that is not clear enough to be understood preoccupied with what he was doing, the mechanic gave only a grunt when I asked when the car would be ready

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2
as in laborer
a person who does very hard or dull work we have an opening in the warehouse if you don't mind doing grunt work

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grunt

2 of 2

verb

as in to mutter
to speak softly and unclearly was so absorbed with the video game that when asked what he wanted for dinner, he just grunted

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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 grunt
Noun
The Wilkes-Barre Times Leader reported that the family also experienced foul odors and heard pig grunts in the home. Jessica Sager, PEOPLE, 7 Sep. 2025 And typically these LLMs take over the lower-level grunt work first, naturally automating entry-level jobs at a lower cost. Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 3 Sep. 2025
Verb
Benchley merely grunted against the throbbing force at the other end of the line. Pat Smith, Outdoor Life, 24 July 2025 For more than a minute, audio captures the sounds of a struggle: grunting, choking. Miguel Torres, AZCentral.com, 3 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for grunt
Recent Examples of Synonyms for grunt
Noun
  • Christopher Columbus’s son, Diego Colón, Hispaniola’s governor, granted him an encomienda, or consignment of Indian laborers, on the north coast of the island in the Cibao Valley.
    Greg Grandin September 23, Literary Hub, 23 Sep. 2025
  • The figure in Nepal is even higher — 20% — which observers say has pushed young people to leave the country in droves to find jobs in neighboring India as well as in other regions such as the Middle East, where they’re often employed as laborers.
    Mithil Aggarwal, NBC news, 15 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Your dad mutters for head movement, for cage cutting, for not playing off the back and creating distance.
    Matthew Shen Goodman, Harpers Magazine, 19 Sep. 2025
  • My husband has been muttering in a loop about tuition, books, food, and transportation to and from home to campus.
    Melissa Willets, Parents, 15 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • This has created bottlenecks for social workers and police officers who often struggle to find spots for people voluntarily asking to get clean.
    Blake Nelson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Sep. 2025
  • It is largely used to bring technology workers from India and other countries stateside to staff major corporations, such as Apple, Google, Meta, Amazon, and Walmart.
    Anna Giaritelli, The Washington Examiner, 23 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • At that point, the dad shook his head, mumbled something under his breath, tossed the melon back in the bin, and picked an alternative fruit.
    Catharine Kaufman, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Sep. 2025
  • Vic mumbled, coughing sleep from his throat.
    Bryan Washington, New Yorker, 7 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Riley said Saturday night, half in a whisper of disbelief.
    Idaho Statesman, Idaho Statesman, 21 Sep. 2025
  • His arrival stirs faint whispers under the Song statues and quietly nudges Hongmei’s buried past toward the surface.
    Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 19 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • The music cuts off, and, gradually, everyone leaves, murmuring about a rave happening not too far away.
    Alphonse Pierre, Pitchfork, 18 Sep. 2025
  • Customers in the Dunkin’ have a similar response, murmuring and looking over their shoulders for the Accountant 2 actor.
    Sabrina Weiss, PEOPLE, 15 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • As in the never-ending parade of ostensibly Christian exorcism movies, religious belief here seems like a superficial excuse for a stock array of supernatural hoodoo — no matter how many times Chalik’s Abuyya pauses the action to mouth some healing doctrine.
    Dennis Harvey, Variety, 6 Aug. 2025
  • The Bulldogs players began to tap their friends and mouth the quarterback’s name.
    Adam Grosbard, Orange County Register, 5 Mar. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Grunt.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/grunt. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.

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