gripe
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
-
Informal. to annoy or irritate.
His tone of voice gripes me.
-
to produce pain in (the bowels) as if by constriction.
-
to distress, afflict, or oppress.
poverty that gripes and pinches us.
-
Nautical. to secure (a lifeboat) to a deck or against a pudding boom on davits.
-
Archaic.
-
to seize and hold firmly with the hand, claws, etc.; grasp; clutch.
-
to greedily take possession of and hold tightly.
The miser gripes his money for fear of losing it.
-
noun
-
Informal. a nagging complaint.
-
Pathology. Usually gripes. an intermittent spasmodic pain in the bowels.
-
something that grips or clutches; a claw or grip.
-
Nautical.
-
a lashing or chain by which a boat is secured to a deck or in position on davits.
-
Also called gripe piece. a curved timber connecting the stem or cutwater of a wooden hull with the keel.
-
the exterior angle or curve formed by this piece; forefoot.
-
the forward end of the dished keel of a metal hull.
-
-
Archaic.
-
the act of gripping, grasping, or clutching.
-
a firm hold; clutch.
-
mastery; hold; control.
-
-
Rare. a handle, hilt, etc.
verb
-
informal (intr) to complain, esp in a persistent nagging manner
-
to cause sudden intense pain in the intestines of (a person) or (of a person) to experience this pain
-
(intr) nautical (of a ship) to tend to come up into the wind in spite of the helm
-
archaic to clutch; grasp
-
archaic (tr) to afflict
noun
-
(usually plural) a sudden intense pain in the intestines; colic
-
informal a complaint or grievance
-
rare
-
the act of gripping
-
a firm grip
-
a device that grips
-
-
(in plural) nautical the lashings that secure a boat
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
gripesimple
-
gripessimple
-
have gripedperfect
-
has gripedperfect
-
am gripingprogressive
-
are gripingprogressive
-
is gripingprogressive
-
have been gripingperfect progressive
-
has been gripingperfect progressive
Past
-
gripedsimple
-
had gripedperfect
-
was gripingprogressive
-
were gripingprogressive
-
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
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Curmudgeon, Cantankerous and Churlish: Grouchy Words
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Out of the Dust
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
Gains are gains, of course, so investors beating the S&P 500 have nothing to gripe about.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 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
That was Ainsley’s chief gripe about him: “He said he cared. He said he listened. He didn’t mean any of it. He used me.”
From Salon ● May 22, 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
She did her work with such grace and resilience, never a gripe.
From "How Dare the Sun Rise" by Sandra Uwiringiyimana
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
When he returns to his constituency, Röttgen, the veteran German conservative lawmaker, says he hears the usual gripes about the cost of living and energy prices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 9, 2026
Look to one of the usual gripes about Palantir: its stratospheric valuation.
From Barron's ● Apr. 1, 2026
I listened to their gripes and just smiled.
From "The Boy on the Wooden Box" by Leon Leyson
Neither of these merit calls to the Federal Communications Commission, but past complainants griped about less.
From Salon ● Feb. 9, 2026
Throughout this season, fans have griped about apparent false starts that officials have missed by the Eagles on the play.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2025
“The system here is broken on many levels,” she griped in a statement.
From Slate ● Sep. 4, 2025
A third member, however, griped that so many supplicants crowd the place these days that he sometimes can’t get a table.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 22, 2024
“Will you sisters hold it down?” he griped as we chattered about our rockets.
From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam
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
Some of the pieces in the book written before this real-life catastrophe, though, suffer from the rote world-weariness of the columnist accustomed to griping to order.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 11, 2025
He came in griping about how cold it was out.
From "The Catcher in the Rye" by J. D. Salinger
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.
