grizzle
1 Americanverb (used with or without object)
adjective
noun
-
gray or partly gray hair.
-
a gray wig.
verb (used without object)
-
to complain; whimper; whine.
-
to laugh or grin in mockery; sneer.
verb
noun
-
a grey colour
-
grey or partly grey hair
-
a grey wig
verb
-
(esp of a child) to fret; whine
-
to sulk or grumble
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of grizzle1
1350–1400; Middle English grisel < Old French, derivative of gris gray < Germanic; see griseous
Origin of grizzle2
1740–50; origin uncertain; compare Middle High German grisgramen to gnash one's teeth, German Griesgram sourpuss
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:
There’s spots of gray grizzle visible on his chin.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 11, 2023
But if he must, he’ll give it more sizzle than grizzle — for you.
From New York Times ● Apr. 30, 2020
With “Hands of Stone,” Robert De Niro officially enters his Burgess Meredith-in-“Rocky” phase, bringing the ringside grizzle and rumpled gravitas by the pound.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2016
Like a middle-aged heartthrob, Koko has a graceful grey grizzle around the mouth now, and Woss says his leading man will not take on any more films.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 9, 2012
I remember running with her towards the fence, the baby starting to wake and to grizzle a little.
From "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins
“Ms. Atkinson’s lighthearted novel,” Sam Sacks writes, “mines delicious humor from this mismatch of grizzled cynicism and national heritage.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
Stay for ’90s heartthrob Josh Hartnett, who stars as a grizzled fisherman whose town is beset by a sea monster.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026
Jacob Elordi, off of an Oscar nomination, is the most obvious ‘Euphoria’ bait, and I hope voters give grizzled veteran Sam Elliott his due for a memorable ‘Landman’ arc.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2026
"As a crime viewer, I've had enough of troubled, grizzled detectives in the wilderness battling their demons," he said.
From BBC ● May 19, 2026
His wooden leg was gone, the socket that should have held the magical eye looked empty beneath its lid, and chunks of his grizzled hair were missing.
From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling
No matter that the Aberdonian shot a final-day 67 when the rest of the field were moaning and grizzling like bairns about the long grass.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 1, 2012
Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA Call it grumbling, griping, grizzling, grouching – take your pick.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 20, 2012
Urbane, well-built, his face framed with grizzling hair, he is famed for two characteristics-his impeccable courtesy, his freedom from mannerism.
From Time Magazine Archive
“I was bouncing her up and down and she was still grizzling, so I walked outside with her.”
From "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins
Then my three younger brothers set up their own grizzling chorus about how unfair it was that they didn’t get paid for anything.
From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
