Meanings
present singular third person begrudges · participle present begrudging · participle past begrudged · past begrudged
- To be reluctant.
- usuallyTo give reluctantly.
Okay, then, next time you go and leave me stay here. See if I begrudge you a little fun.
1958 May, Avram Davidson, “Or All The Seas With Oysters”, in Galaxy Science Fiction, volume 16, number 1, page 502 more examples
“Trial’ll probably be Monday. You can keep him one night, can’t you? I don’t think anybody in Maycomb’ll begrudge me a client, with times this hard.”
1960 July 11, Harper Lee, chapter 15, in To Kill a Mockingbird, Philadelphia, Pa.; New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLCA defeat would have been harsh on the Gunners, especially after an improved rearguard action in the second half, but few could begrudge the German side a point from a match they dominated for long spells.
2011 September 13, Sam Lyon, “Borussia Dortmund 1 - 1 Arsenal”, in BBC
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishbigrucchen“to grumble at”
- Englishbegrudge
From Middle English bigrucchen (“to grumble at”), equivalent to be- (“at, about, over”) + grudge. Compare also English begrouch.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek μεγαίρω
- μεγαίρω (megaírō)give reluctantly
Bulgarian завиждам, давам неохотно
- завиждам (zaviždam)be envious or covetous
- давам неохотно (davam neohotno)give reluctantly
Chinese Mandarin 妒忌, 勉強
- 妒忌 (dùjì)be envious or covetous
- 勉強give reluctantly
- 勉强give reluctantly
- 不愿give reluctantly
- 不愿give reluctantly
- 吝惜 (lìnxī)give reluctantly
Dutch benijden
- benijdenbe envious or covetous
Finnish kadehtia, hangoitella
- kadehtiabe envious or covetous
- hangoitellagive reluctantly
Māori takarita
- takaritato grudge over
Ukrainian бурчати, заздрити
- бурчати (burčaty)to grudge over
- заздрити (zazdryty)be envious or covetous
- шкодувати (škoduvaty)give reluctantly
- жаліти (žality)give reluctantly
- скупитися (skupytysja)give reluctantly
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
begrudge. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/begrudge
“begrudge.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/begrudge. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “begrudge,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/begrudge.
Source: begrudge on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.