Meanings
present singular third person grovels · US participle present groveling · UK participle present grovelling · US participle past groveled · US past groveled · UK participle past grovelled · UK past grovelled
- intransitiveTo be prone on the ground.
- intransitiveTo crawl.
In the tube station, the old ones who were on the way out / Would dribble and vomit and grovel and shout
1985, Shane MacGowan, “The Old Main Drag”, in Rum Sodomy & the Lash, performed by The Pogues - intransitiveTo abase oneself before another person.
She refused to grovel in front of the bully, standing her ground.
- intransitiveTo be slavishly nice to someone or apologize in the hope of securing something.
He hated to grovel, but he knew it was the only way to save his job.
1 more example
He had to grovel before his boss after missing the important meeting.
- intransitiveTo take pleasure in mundane activities.
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*gʰrebʰ‑“to dig, scrape, scrabble, scratch”
- Proto-Germanic*grubilōną“to dig, delve into”
- Old Norsegrufla
- Middle English*grovelen
- Englishgrovel
From Middle English *grovelen, from Old Norse grufla, grœfla (“to grovel”), from Proto-Germanic *grubilōną (“to dig, delve into”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrebʰ‑ (“to dig, scrape, scrabble, scratch”); akin to Old Norse á grufu (“on one's belly”) ( > Old Norse grúfa (“to lie face down, grovel”)). Cognate with Scots grovel, gruvil (“to grovel”), German grübeln (“to meditate, ponder”), Norwegian Nynorsk gruvla (“to grovel”). Compare also West Frisian groebeltsje (“to make a mess, skip school, skive”), Dutch grobbelen (“to grope, root, grub”).
More words from Middle English, Old Norse, Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian лежа по очи, пълзя
- лежа по очи (leža po oči)to be prone on the ground
- пълзя (pălzja)to crawl
- унижавам се (unižavam se)to abase oneself
- подмазвам се (podmazvam se)to be slavishly nice in the hope of securing something
- раболепнича (rabolepniča)to be slavishly nice in the hope of securing something
Catalan arrossegar
- arrossegarto crawl
Czech plazit se, ponižovat se
- plazit seto crawl
- ponižovat seto abase oneself
- plazit seto abase oneself
- lízat patyto be slavishly nice in the hope of securing something
Danish krybe, kravle
- krybeto crawl
- kravleto crawl
Dutch kruipen, kruipen
- kruipento crawl
- kruipento be slavishly nice in the hope of securing something
Finnish olla rähmällään, ryömiä
- olla rähmälläänto be prone on the ground
- ryömiäto crawl
- madellato crawl
- kontatato crawl
- nöyristelläto abase oneself
- madellato abase oneself
- olla rähmälläänto abase oneself
- mielistelläto be slavishly nice in the hope of securing something
- rypeäto take pleasure in mundane things
French ramper, s'abaisser
- ramperto crawl
- s'abaisserto abase oneself
- s'aplatirto abase oneself
- larbinerto be slavishly nice in the hope of securing something
German kriechen, kriechen
- kriechento crawl
- kriechento abase oneself
- katzbuckelnto abase oneself
- auf dem Bauch rutschento abase oneself
- kriechento be slavishly nice in the hope of securing something
- schleimento be slavishly nice in the hope of securing something
Hebrew התרפס
- התרפס (hitrapés)to be slavishly nice in the hope of securing something
Italian giacere bocconi, giacere prono
- giacere bocconito be prone on the ground
- giacere pronoto be prone on the ground
- strisciareto crawl
- abbassarsito abase oneself
- umiliarsito abase oneself
- ingraziarsito be slavishly nice in the hope of securing something
- grufolarsito take pleasure in mundane things
Māori tāpapa, whakapāpaku
- tāpapato be prone on the ground
- whakapāpakuto abase oneself
Russian лежа́ть ниц, по́лзать
- лежа́ть ниц (ležátʹ nic)to be prone on the ground
- по́лзать (pólzatʹ)to crawl
- унижа́ться (unižátʹsja)to abase oneself
- пресмыка́ться (presmykátʹsja)to abase oneself
- пресмыка́ться (presmykátʹsja)to be slavishly nice in the hope of securing something
Spanish prostrarse, postrarse
- prostrarseto be prone on the ground
- postrarseto be prone on the ground
- humillarseto abase oneself
- arrastrarseto be slavishly nice in the hope of securing something
- humillarseto be slavishly nice in the hope of securing something
Turkish sürünmek, sürünmek
- sürünmekto crawl
- sürünmekto abase oneself
- ayaklarına/dizlerine kapanmakto be slavishly nice in the hope of securing something
- sürünmekto be slavishly nice in the hope of securing something
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with grovel
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
grovel. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/grovel
“grovel.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/grovel. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “grovel,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/grovel.
Source: grovel on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.