gripe
Americanverb (used without object)
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gripes,
present (3rd person singular)
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griped,
past participle, past
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griping
present participle
verb (used with object)
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gripes,
present (3rd person singular)
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griped,
past participle, past
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griping
present participle
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Informal. to annoy or irritate.
His tone of voice gripes me.
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to produce pain in (the bowels) as if by constriction.
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to distress, afflict, or oppress.
poverty that gripes and pinches us.
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Nautical. to secure (a lifeboat) to a deck or against a pudding boom on davits.
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Archaic.
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to seize and hold firmly with the hand, claws, etc.; grasp; clutch.
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to greedily take possession of and hold tightly.
The miser gripes his money for fear of losing it.
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noun
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gripes
plural
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Informal. a nagging complaint.
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Pathology. Usually gripes. an intermittent spasmodic pain in the bowels.
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something that grips or clutches; a claw or grip.
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Nautical.
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a lashing or chain by which a boat is secured to a deck or in position on davits.
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Also called gripe piece. a curved timber connecting the stem or cutwater of a wooden hull with the keel.
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the exterior angle or curve formed by this piece; forefoot.
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the forward end of the dished keel of a metal hull.
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Archaic.
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the act of gripping, grasping, or clutching.
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a firm hold; clutch.
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mastery; hold; control.
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Rare. a handle, hilt, etc.
verb
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informal (intr) to complain, esp in a persistent nagging manner
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to cause sudden intense pain in the intestines of (a person) or (of a person) to experience this pain
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(intr) nautical (of a ship) to tend to come up into the wind in spite of the helm
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archaic to clutch; grasp
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archaic (tr) to afflict
noun
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(usually plural) a sudden intense pain in the intestines; colic
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informal a complaint or grievance
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rare
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the act of gripping
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a firm grip
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a device that grips
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(in plural) nautical the lashings that secure a boat
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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gripesimple
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gripessimple
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have gripedperfect
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has gripedperfect
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am gripingprogressive
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are gripingprogressive
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is gripingprogressive
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have been gripingperfect progressive
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has been gripingperfect progressive
Past
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gripedsimple
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had gripedperfect
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was gripingprogressive
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were gripingprogressive
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had been gripingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of gripe
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English gripen, Old English grīpan; cognate with Dutch grijpen, German griefen; see grip, grope
Explanation
The word gripe, as both noun and verb, refers to a minor complaint. Why gripe about the size of the portions when the food is so awful? The key to gripe is that as complaints go, it's trivial. You don't gripe about your house burning down or the cost of medical care. You gripe about your friend's status updates and the fact the Yankees have too much money. A gripe can last a while. For example, the city has been hearing gripes about parking rules for a generation, but as complaints go, it's just not getting a lot of traction. One person's gripe, however, can be another person's major headache. It all depends on your point of view.
Vocabulary lists containing gripe
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
When Mary would gripe, she said, her dad would laugh or “just keep working.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
A major challenge is electricity prices, which are significantly higher than in other big economies like China or India, a regular gripe of Germany's vast industrial sector.
From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026
The union's main gripe is that total government spending on NHS dentistry in England has been falling over the past decade, once inflation is taken into account.
From BBC ● Mar. 24, 2026
Curiously, this was not a prevailing gripe about “Frankenstein,” despite del Toro changing the ending, altering the inciting events of the Creature’s creation and adding new characters while changing the textual behavior of key others.
From Salon ● Feb. 23, 2026
“Should someone invite Shawna? I feel like she might need a gripe session more than us.”
From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro
Most of the gripes against the concert-promoting giant could be resolved with a solution that has nothing to with antitrust.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
It’s a “three-ring circus”: the merits docket, the shadow docket, and the justices’ increasingly public intramural snipings and gripes.
From Slate ● May 30, 2026
This was an increase from just over 70,000 in 2020-21, with one of the main gripes about poor response times.
From BBC ● May 14, 2026
The announcement of Dudamel’s first New York season, while praiseworthy, brought an earful of gripes about his speaking in platitudes from hardcore New Yorkers unimpressed by uplift.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 3, 2026
I listened to their gripes and just smiled.
From "The Boy on the Wooden Box" by Leon Leyson
Executives griped to Dimon about what they saw as Bisignano’s use of company resources for his own benefit, including allegations Bisignano misused the corporate jet for personal purposes, people familiar with the matter said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
In perhaps the weirdest admission, Katie Miller griped that her husband wears shoes in the house against her will, which she dislikes because “the kids eat off the floor.”
From Salon ● Feb. 16, 2026
“The system here is broken on many levels,” she griped in a statement.
From Slate ● Sep. 4, 2025
My 8-year-old griped, “We’ve been hiking for years,” and I wondered why I’d ever concocted this ridiculous quest.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 25, 2024
"Her face is pretty, but I don't like her legs," I once griped to Tsalig—as if he had asked for my opinion.
From "The Boy on the Wooden Box" by Leon Leyson
The 56-year-old native of upstate New York left his first term on the board prematurely in 2011, griping over policy differences.
From Barron's ● May 12, 2026
There was much intra-Senate grousing and griping and bickering in the days preceding Friday morning’s vote.
From Slate ● Mar. 28, 2026
That same year, Life magazine quoted an unnamed member of a symphony orchestra griping that Sinatra actually had the temerity to tell them what tempos he wanted his arrangements played in.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2025
This mostly came in the form of griping that Michelle Obama was allowed to criticize him: "Obama, his wife was very nasty to me. That was not nice."
From Salon ● Oct. 30, 2024
I was used to seeing Dionysus by the fireplace, playing cards and eating grapes and griping at satyrs, but Mr. D was still away.
From "The Battle of the Labyrinth" by Rick Riordan
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