Meanings
comparative grummer · superlative grummest
- Morose, stern, surly, sullen.
She cast a speculative look upon her husband, silent and grum as if he had been thus gruffly carved out of wood.
1891, Mary Noailles Murfree, In the "Stranger Poeple's" Country, Nebraska, published 2005, page 581 more example
Look not so grum at me; there is something to make thee more cheerful. (Offering him money with one hand, while he receives the bag with the other.)
1836, Joanna Baillie, The Stripling, act 2
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*gʰrem-“to thunder, rub, tear, scratch”
- Proto-Germanic*gramaz“angry, bearing a grudge”
- Old Englishgrom
- Middle Englishgrom
- Englishgrum
From Middle English grom, from Old English grom, gram (“angry, wrathful”), from Proto-Germanic *gramaz (“angry, bearing a grudge”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrem- (“to thunder, rub, tear, scratch”). Probably influenced in form by glum. Compare also Danish grum (“cruel, atrocious, fell”), Swedish grym (“cruel, furious, terrible”). See also grim, gram, grump.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with grum
All rhymes →Cite this entry
grum. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/grum
“grum.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/grum. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “grum,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/grum.
Source: grum on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.