Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

Grendel

American  
[gren-dl] / ˈgrɛn dl /

noun

English and Scandinavian Mythology.
  1. the monster killed by Beowulf.


Grendel British  
/ ˈɡrɛndəl /

noun

  1. (in Old English legend) a man-eating monster defeated by the hero Beowulf

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

Sanchomo is featured heavily in "Touken Ranbu" and whenever the museum exhibits it, "our visitor numbers skyrocket", Tumi Grendel Markan, a cultural guide at the museum, told AFP, calling their demographic "about 80 percent female".

From Barron's • Feb. 11, 2026

In the first, Grendel emerges from the wilderness “With absolute prophecy in his breast/And a desire for mercy, for a friend, an end/To drifting in loneliness.”

From New York Times • Apr. 15, 2022

The largest collection of his works are housed at the Norman Rockwell Museum and its grounds including climbing acrobats and a massive stone carving named Grendel.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 15, 2020

One of the only books I remember reading with any sense of entrancement my senior year was John Gardner’s Grendel.

From Slate • Jun. 10, 2019

Grendel had wanted to take him for his own, to bear him off to where he belonged, to join the baleful company of the fen; but he, Unferth, had held back through fear.

From "Beowulf: A New Telling" by Robert Nye

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Look it up. Learn it forever.

Remember "Grendel" for good with VocabTrainer. Expand your vocabulary effortlessly with personalized learning tools that adapt to your goals.

Take me to Vocabulary.com