groan
/ˈɡɹoʊ̯n/noun, verb
groan is spelled G-R-O-A-N: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 24,745th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, groan means “A low, mournful sound uttered in pain or grief” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of groan is groans.
How many letters and syllables are in groan?
| Letters | 5: G-R-O-A-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 1.3 times per million words; the 24,745th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; 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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is groan?
Groan appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 24,745th 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 groan?
- UK /ˈɡɹəʊ̯n/
- UK /ˈɡɹɵ̞ʊ̯n/
- US /ˈɡɹoʊ̯n/
Groan has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-groan.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with groan
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with groan?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as groan from its last stressed vowel (/oʊn/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: organ, argon, orang, grano, angor.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of groan
- groans plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- groane
- grane
- grain
- graen
- groaning participle, present
- groaned participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does groan mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A low, mournful sound uttered in pain or grief.
let out a groan
- 2
A low, guttural sound uttered in frustration, disapproval, or ecstasy.
- 3
A low creaking sound from applied pressure or weight.
verb
- 1
To make a groan.
We groaned at his awful jokes.
- 2
To seemingly creak under the strain of being heavily laden.
- 3
obsoleteTo strive after earnestly, as if with groans.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Groan in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | râle, râlement, gémissement , grognement, grondement , râler |
| German | Stöhnen , Seufzen, Ächzen , ächzen, stöhnen , Knarren |
| Portuguese | gemido , suspiro , gemer |
| Spanish | quejido , soltar un quejido |
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 groan come from?
From Middle English gronen, granen, from Old English grānian (“to groan; lament; murmur”), from Proto-West Germanic *grainōn, from Proto-Germanic *grainōną (“to howl; weep”), from Proto-Germanic *grīnaną (“to whine; howl; whimper”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).