Groan or grown?
groan is a noun meaning “A low, mournful sound uttered in pain or grief”; grown is an adjective meaning “Covered by growth; overgrown”. Use groan as a noun and grown as an adjective. They sound the same (/ˈɡɹəʊ̯n/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) grown is about 35 times as common as groan.
What is the difference between groan and grown?
| groan | grown | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, verb | adjective, verb |
| Meaning | A low, mournful sound uttered in pain or grief A low, guttural sound uttered in frustration, disapproval, or ecstasy To make a groan | Covered by growth; overgrown USOf a person: adult |
| Example | let out a groan | What once was a farm was grown with trees |
| Forms | groans | none |
| Pronunciation | /ˈɡɹəʊ̯n/ /ˈɡɹɵ̞ʊ̯n/ /ˈɡɹoʊ̯n/ | /ɡɹəʊn/ /ɡɹoʊn/ /ˈɡɹɐʉn/ |
| In writing | 1.3 times per million words | 47 times per million words |
Sources: groan and grown in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of groan and grown
groan
- 1
A low, mournful sound uttered in pain or grief
let out a groan
- 2
To make a groan
We groaned at his awful jokes
- 3
A low, guttural sound uttered in frustration, disapproval, or ecstasy
- 4
To seemingly creak under the strain of being heavily laden
- 5
A low creaking sound from applied pressure or weight
grown
- 1
Covered by growth; overgrown
What once was a farm was grown with trees
- 2
USOf a person: adult
grown woman/man/adult
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, groan or grown?
groan appears 1.3 times per million words; grown 47 times per million words.
groan 1.3 times per million wordsgrown 47 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).