grovel

/ˈɡrɒvəl/

//ˈɡrɒvəl// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"grovel" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“grovel” is uncommon English (frequency #68,269 among 2,313 “G” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#68,269
frequency rank, English
2,313
“G” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To be prone on the ground.

Corpus desk

Index EN-grovel · grovel · English

grovel · rank #68,269 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #68,269
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,313
  • PHOTO-FINISH Grigory

Nearest frequency peer: Grigory (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “grovel”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “grovel” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for grovel
PropertyValue
Headwordgrovel
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ˈɡrɒvəl/
Letters6
Frequency rank#68,269
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “grovel” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).grovelfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “Grigory” (#68,268), “grunted” (#68,270), “grift” (#68,267). Among 2,313 “G” headwords, “grovel” is #68,269. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

grovel is uncommon English at frequency #68,269 among 2,313 “G” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /ˈɡrɒvəl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 5 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for grovel in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English *grovelen, from Old Norse grufla, grœfla (“to grovel”), from Proto-Germanic *grubilōną (“to dig, delve into”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrebʰ‑ (“to dig, scrape, scrabble, scratch”); akin to Old Norse á grufu (“on one's belly”) ( > Old … The correct English form is grovel, spelled G-R-O-V-E-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    To be prone on the ground.
  2. 2
    To crawl.
  3. 3
    To abase oneself before another person.
  4. 4
    To be slavishly nice to someone or apologize in the hope of securing something.
  5. 5
    To take pleasure in mundane activities.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how grovel appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. In the tube station, the old ones who were on the way out / Would dribble and vomit and grovel and shout
  2. She refused to grovel in front of the bully, standing her ground.

Etymology

From Middle English *grovelen, from Old Norse grufla, grœfla (“to grovel”), from Proto-Germanic *grubilōną (“to dig, delve into”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrebʰ‑ (“to dig, scrape, scrabble, scratch”); akin to Old Norse á grufu (“on one's belly”) ( > Old Norse grúfa (“to lie face down, grovel”)). Cognate with Scots grovel, gruvil (“to grovel”), German grübeln (“to meditate, ponder”), Norwegian Nynorsk gruvla (“to grovel”). Compare also West Frisian groebeltsje (“to make a mess, skip school, skive”), Dutch grobbelen (“to grope, root, grub”).

This word in other languages

arrastrarse(Español)ramper(Français)kriechen(Deutsch)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "grovel"?
"grovel" is spelled G-R-O-V-E-L. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɡrɒvəl/.
What does "grovel" mean?
As a verb, "grovel" means: To be prone on the ground.
How do you pronounce "grovel"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "grovel" is /ˈɡrɒvəl/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "grovel"?
From Middle English *grovelen, from Old Norse grufla, grœfla (“to grovel”), from Proto-Germanic *grubilōną (“to dig, delve into”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrebʰ‑ (“to dig, scrape, scrabble, scratch”); akin to Old Norse á grufu (“on one's belly”... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "grovel", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Gujrat#68,271gooden#68,259globus#68,256glioma#68,255

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list