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
- gropingly adverb
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.
Vandier said AI is turning military intelligence analysis from a task of groping in darkness for targets to one of sifting through piles of them.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 7, 2026
Such people are groping for answers and meaning.
From Salon • Feb. 25, 2025
“One leg, two legs — got it,” Dave Laithwaite, a volunteer at the sanctuary, said while groping around in the mud in the kiwi’s narrow den.
From New York Times • May 17, 2024
Under Spain’s 2022 sexual consent law, the crime of sexual assault takes in a wide array of crimes from online abuse and groping to rape, each with different possible punishments.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 3, 2024
It was like an immense spider, he thought, his mind groping for comparisons that might make sense of the thing.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
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.
