gruel

American  

[groo-uhl] / ˈgru əl /

noun

gruels plural

1. a light, usually thin, cooked cereal made by boiling meal, especially oatmeal, in water or milk.

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gruel British  

/ ˈɡruːəl /

noun

1. a drink or thin porridge, made by boiling meal, esp oatmeal, in water or milk

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• gruels
  plural

Etymology

Origin of gruel

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English, from Middle French, Old French, perhaps via an intermediary such as Medieval Latin grūtellum (unrecorded), from grūtum “flour, meal” (from a Germanic source akin to German Grütze “ground cereal grains”; see grits, grout) + -ellum, diminutive suffix

Compare meaning

How does gruel compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• gruel vs. porridge

Explanation

Gruel is a truly unpleasant food — weak and runny, consisting of oatmeal or cornmeal boiled in milk or water. It's the kind of "slop" prisoners and other inmates of institutions were historically forced to eat. Gruel was made most famous by Dickens's Oliver Twist, the little orphan boy in the workhouse, who was so hungry he even asked for seconds of it: "Please sir, I want some more." Gruel's reputation, not great to begin with, never recovered. From this delightful substance comes the adjective grueling, describing an experience that's exhausting and punishing. "To get one's gruel" was 1700s slang meaning "to receive one's punishment." Even back then gruel had a bad rap.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

gruel gruels

By historical standards that’s pretty thin gruel, and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says it even might overstate job creation.

From MarketWatch ● Dec. 15, 2025

“The market had expected a confident story of further margin development and was instead served a thin gruel as far as 2030 guidance was concerned.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2025

There’s a few different threads of criticism, some thinner gruel than others.

From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2024

But this may be thin gruel for someone with Boris Johnson's outsize personality.

From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2023

“Very good, Mr. Stag, sir. Two bowls of gruel coming up.”

From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques

Agriculture softened our ancestors’ diets with processed gruels, stews and yogurts, and this fare led to gradually shrinking lower jaws to produce today’s overcrowded mouths.”

From Fox News ● Mar. 18, 2019

Few had ever received Red Cross packages; their guards, almost to a man, had engaged in graft which cut prison fare to watery soups, half-spoiled vegetables, and chalky gruels.

From Time Magazine Archive

Liquid or Fluid Diet.—Consisting of milk, nutrient and other palatable beverages, broths, and thin gruels.

From Dietetics for Nurses by Proudfit, Fairfax T.

No feed should be given for several hours after the operation, and then gruels only.

From Special Report on Diseases of Cattle by United States. Bureau of Animal Industry

She raised her hand and made the sign of the Cross between herself and that disappearing speck, then she turned and followed old Anita carrying gruels to that dim south room.

From Tharon of Lost Valley by Johnson, Frank Tenney