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:
The main gripe for the frugal is the proposed budget represents an increase of around 60 percent on the last one at a time when member states have to tighten their belts.
From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2026
When Mary would gripe, she said, her dad would laugh or “just keep working.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
While I didn’t encounter any issues when contacting ExpressVPN’s support department, the biggest gripe regarding the negatives is just that.
From Salon ● Mar. 27, 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
“What’s your problem, boy? You got a gripe with Mother Paula’s? To be honest, you look like a kid that enjoys a good pancake.”
From "Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen
While I spoke with 20 people for this piece, I received 178 individual responses of all kinds, ranging from shock and awe to relative disappointment to distinctly modern moviegoing gripes.
From Salon ● Oct. 22, 2026
Then I thought to show my colleague’s offending email to an AI, which didn’t have all my baggage of past gripes with this co-worker or past indignation at being similarly dismissed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2026
Though his wife and I had been in the same women’s book group, I’d known Eric only through the wry gripes we’d all made about our husbands.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 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
The coaches were aware of the gripes, but the bottom line was that Boobie had the talent and they did not.
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
Some traders had griped that such markets were a sucker’s game because the shows are usually recorded before a studio audience several hours before airtime.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 24, 2026
Neither of these merit calls to the Federal Communications Commission, but past complainants griped about less.
From Salon ● Feb. 9, 2026
He never griped that he was pitching on short rest, or pitching with a bum arm, or pitching with a terrible offense and an untrustworthy bullpen.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2025
“The system here is broken on many levels,” she griped in a statement.
From Slate ● Sep. 4, 2025
Most people resented this; they griped and grumbled.
From "Farewell to Manzanar" by Jeanne Houston
Erewhon, which opened as a pop-up about a week later also elicited excitement and some griping, with critics saying the space would be better served by a less expensive option.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2026
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
The same qualities that make the variety so delicious leave farmers griping.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2025
The children were likewise worn out and went to bed with only minor griping about the lumpy mattresses and thin, scratchy military blankets.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
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