variants
or grovelling
as in fawning
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Dissimilar Words
variants
or grovelling
1
2
as in crawling
to move slowly with the body close to the ground
because of their anatomy, bats can only grovel while moving along the ground
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of groveling
Guy Martin,
Forbes.com,
25 June 2026
Cue the fine and the groveling league apology.
—
Matt Reigle Outkick,
FOXNews.com,
10 May 2026
Political courage is needed, especially from the cowardly, groveling Congress.
—
Edward Lotterman,
Twin Cities,
18 Jan. 2026
That’s the saddest cash-grab gimmick ever, groveling for Dubai dollars.
—
Sports Columnist,
San Francisco Chronicle,
11 Jan. 2026
Rather than wait it out until January 2029, when magical thinking assumes the current transatlantic nightmare will come to an end, the EU needs to stop groveling and build greater sovereignty.
—
Matthias Matthijs,
Foreign Affairs,
12 Dec. 2025
Verb
Abject, groveling apologies to Moss and everybody on the longevity team!
—
Guy Martin,
Forbes.com,
25 June 2026
Cue the fine and the groveling league apology.
—
Matt Reigle Outkick,
FOXNews.com,
10 May 2026
Political courage is needed, especially from the cowardly, groveling Congress.
—
Edward Lotterman,
Twin Cities,
18 Jan. 2026
That’s the saddest cash-grab gimmick ever, groveling for Dubai dollars.
—
Sports Columnist,
San Francisco Chronicle,
11 Jan. 2026
Rather than wait it out until January 2029, when magical thinking assumes the current transatlantic nightmare will come to an end, the EU needs to stop groveling and build greater sovereignty.
—
Matthias Matthijs,
Foreign Affairs,
12 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for groveling
Adjective
-
To cede all of that ground to the executive, and to do so in such an obsequious way, is shameful.
-
Dawkins regards these obsequious interactions between his weird little menagerie of bots very seriously, and the AIs’ flattery clearly works.
Verb
-
More comics journalism from Life Kit Still cringing about that awkward moment?
-
Try and get through this one without cringing.
Verb
-
The Germans were crawling as far as the street, dashing across the asphalt, then leaping into the second trench.
-
Jude Cornell joined a swarm of toddlers crawling after soccer balls, tossing training cones into the air and relocating a goalie net that was proving to be very, very portable.
Adjective
-
Unfortunately, Trump takes servile flattery as his due.
-
Of course, all of this convenient acquiescence will sound familiar in the United States, where our own Congress and Department of Justice have been nothing if not servile to a brazenly corrupt executive.
Verb
-
Cole agreed, but did do some flinching.
-
Without flinching, the two plunged into the waves to rescue the woman.
Verb
-
Costs begin creeping higher, margins get a little tighter and profitability comes under pressure.
-
About 1 million 16-to-24-year-olds now find themselves not in employment, education or training, with levels creeping toward highs not seen since the 2008 financial crash.
Adjective
-
Like all other generative chatbots, its replies are sycophantic.
-
In an interview with Mostly Human spotted by MacRumors, Craig Federighi said Apple’s new Siri won’t act all sycophantic like chatbots made by OpenAI, Google, and others.
Verb
-
The sequence started with Bosnian defender Stjepan Radeljic sliding in front of a Tillman pass, deflecting it forward toward Muharemovic.
-
Some providers might work on a sliding fee scale, for example, which adjusts cost based on a patient’s household income and family size.
Cite this Entry
“Groveling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/groveling. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.
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