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PlainSpell

gripe

/ɡɹaɪp/verb, noun

gripe is spelled G-R-I-P-E: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,565th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “grip vs gripe” about 20 times a month (Google, United States). As a verb, gripe means “To complain; to whine” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in gripe?

Letters5: G-R-I-P-E
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writingabout once in every 2 million words; the 36,565th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).

How common is gripe?

Gripe appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,565th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce gripe?

  • /ɡɹaɪp/

Gripe has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-gripe.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with gripe

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

grip vs gripe20 G

Also written: grip.

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Forms of gripe

  • gripes present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • griping participle, present
  • griped past, participle

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does gripe mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    informalTo complain; to whine.

  2. 2

    informalTo annoy or bother.

    What's griping you?

  3. 3

    To tend to come up into the wind, as a ship which, when sailing close-hauled, requires constant labour at the helm.

  4. 4

    obsoleteTo pinch; to distress. Specifically, to cause pinching and spasmodic pain to the bowels of, as by the effects of certain purgative or indigestible substances.

  5. 5

    To suffer griping pains.

  6. 6

    obsoleteTo make a grab (to, towards, at or upon something).

  7. 7

    archaicTo seize or grasp.

noun

  1. 1

    A complaint, often a petty or trivial one.

  2. 2

    A wire rope, often used on davits and other life raft launching systems.

  3. 3

    obsoleteGrasp; clutch; grip.

  4. 4

    obsoleteThat which is grasped; a handle; a grip.

    the gripe of a sword

  5. 5

    datedA device for grasping or holding anything; a brake to stop a wheel.

  6. 6

    obsoleteOppression; cruel exaction; affliction; pinching distress.

    the gripe of poverty

  7. 7

    Pinching and spasmodic pain in the intestines.

  8. 8

    IrelandAlternative form of grip (trench, ditch, furrow).

  9. 9

    Alternative form of grype.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Gripe in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchse plaindre (to complain; to whine)
Germanmaulen, meckern (to complain; to whine), Griff (that which is grasped)
Spanishquejarse, gimotear (to complain; to whine), queja, gimoteo, nimiedad (complaint; petty concern)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does gripe come from?

From Middle English gripen, from Old English grīpan, from Proto-Germanic *grīpaną, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰreyb- (“to grab, grasp”). Cognate with West Frisian gripe, Low German griepen, Dutch grijpen, German greifen, Danish gribe, Norwegian Bokmål gripe, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish gripa, Icelandic grípa. See also grip, grope.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after gripe