- present participle of grope.
groping
Americanadjective
-
moving or going about clumsily or hesitantly; stumbling.
-
showing or reflecting a desire to understand, especially something that proves puzzling.
a groping scrutiny; a groping expression.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of groping
Middle English word dating back to 1300–50; see origin at grope, -ing 2
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.
She’s also spinning an intergenerational tale of Black women groping past their initial distrust to a deeper understanding of what they have in common.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026
“You’re groping in the dark a little bit more.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 2, 2026
We’ve been groping through this land of disbelief for some time now.
From Salon ● Jan. 21, 2026
Selecting Isak ahead of him lacked logic, smacking of a manager groping for answers, almost trying to get an expensive signing to play himself into the team.
From BBC ● Nov. 25, 2025
His brain itself seemed to have frozen as he pushed through the dark water to the bottom and reached out, groping for the sword.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
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.
