grumble
Americanverb (used without object)
-
to murmur or mutter in discontent; complain sullenly.
Tim always found something to grumble about.
-
to utter low, indistinct sounds; growl.
Suddenly I heard my stomach grumble, and realized I hadn't had any lunch.
-
to rumble.
The thunder grumbled in the west.
verb (used with object)
noun
-
an expression of discontent; complaint; unhappy murmur; growl.
-
grumbles, a grumbling, discontented mood.
-
a rumble.
verb
-
to utter (complaints) in a nagging or discontented way
-
(intr) to make low dull rumbling sounds
noun
-
a complaint; grouse
-
a low rumbling sound
Synonym Usage
See complain.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
grumblesimple
-
grumblessimple
-
have grumbledperfect
-
has grumbledperfect
-
am grumblingprogressive
-
are grumblingprogressive
-
is grumblingprogressive
-
have been grumblingperfect progressive
-
has been grumblingperfect progressive
Past
-
grumbledsimple
-
had grumbledperfect
-
was grumblingprogressive
-
were grumblingprogressive
-
had been grumblingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of grumble
First recorded in 1580–90; perhaps frequentative of Old English grymman “to wail”; compare Dutch grommelen, German grummeln, French grommeler (from Germanic )
Explanation
When you grumble, you complain about something clearly but quietly, in a low mutter. Some people grumble a hundred times a day, about everything from the weather to the traffic to their bad luck at bowling. The verb grumble is a great example of onomatopoeia, a word that sounds just like what it means. When you say "grumble" out loud, you're practically already grumbling about something. The origin of grumble is the Middle French word grommeler, or "mutter through the teeth." Just think about the things in life that make you want to mutter through your teeth and you'll probably start to grumble.
Vocabulary lists containing grumble
Instead of "Said": Words That Sound Like What They Mean
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Curmudgeon, Cantankerous and Churlish: Grouchy Words
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"The Secret Water"
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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:
Miners grumble that governments aren’t doing enough to encourage Western industry to make the shift away from Chinese minerals.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 2026
"My fingers may fumble, my mouth may mumble and each step I take may result in a stumble. But I cannot grumble."
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026
Private credit investors may grumble, as some funds prorate redemption requests.
From Barron's ● Mar. 17, 2026
In a flash, the journalist is gone, leaving Gustav to grumble, “TikTok troll.”
From Salon ● Jan. 13, 2026
“Aunt Gertrude’s coming tonight, remember? She’s a cleaning machine. Mom probably doesn’t want to hear her grumble about how dirty the house is, so she’s cleaning up before her visit.”
From "Mystery Map (The Hardy Boys: Secret Files, #3)" by Franklin W. Dixon
As a Roman citizen he grumbles about taxes yet knows that the state keeps the peace.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
“These people believe that you take the scab off of a wound and take it off again and again until something miraculous happens,” Boritt grumbles to the camera.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026
You can imagine the first misplaced pass by Spurs, they will blame it on Frank, and those grumbles will only grow as the game goes on.
From BBC ● Jan. 29, 2026
"We're the same as two years ago, but worse," grumbles Hector Sanchez, a 62-year-old waiter.
From Barron's ● Oct. 24, 2025
He grumbles and sits on the floor pillow across from me.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
But his internal critics long privately grumbled, and more recently increasingly publicly grumbled that this amounted to him all too often not being able to articulate what he did believe.
From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026
Tenants grumbled about rising HOA fees and prepared to take out their own trash and sort through their own packages.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
Some of the criticism may be filtering up to the president, who has grumbled that Iran is still throttling most shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
From Slate ● Apr. 10, 2026
"It's certainly not gotten any better. It's actually gotten much worse," he grumbled.
From Barron's ● Mar. 19, 2026
“I don’t know how George Finkle has a million dollars to give away,” Mom grumbled.
From "The Million Dollar Shot" by Dan Gutman
Leto’s grumbling Brit-inflected baritone is an unrecognizable concoction of trilled r’s and plummy vowels — and the best performance he’s done in years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2026
Back on Tasman Drive, tourists excitedly posed for pictures next to a speed bump sign as a grumbling resident glared at them.
From Barron's ● Apr. 30, 2026
De Meo has also enlisted consultants from BCG, AlixPartners and Bain to support the restructuring, prompting some internal grumbling.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026
At the time, “Ohio” received criticism similar to the reaction to “Streets of Minneapolis:” a mix of grousing about rich rock stars capitalizing on tragedy combined with grumbling that the song just wasn’t very good.
From Salon ● Feb. 10, 2026
There was a pause, some shuffling and grumbling before the locks clicked and the door cracked open to a slit.
From "Monday's Not Coming" by Tiffany D. Jackson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
