gruel
/ˈɡɹuːəl/noun, verb
gruel is spelled G-R-U-E-L: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 56,788th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, gruel means “A thin, watery porridge, formerly eaten primarily by the poor and the ill” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of gruel is gruels.
How many letters and syllables are in gruel?
| Letters | 5: G-R-U-E-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words; the 56,788th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is gruel?
Gruel appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 56,788th 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 gruel?
- /ˈɡɹuːəl/
- /ɡɹuːl/
- /ɡɹʊəl/
Gruel has 2 syllables (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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-gruel.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with gruel?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as gruel.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: luger, gluer.
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 gruel
- gruels plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- grueling US, participle, present
- gruelling UK, participle, present
- grueled US, participle, past
- gruelled UK, participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does gruel mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A thin, watery porridge, formerly eaten primarily by the poor and the ill.
- 2
Punishment.
- 3
Something that lacks substance.
thin gruel
- 4
USobsoleteslangSentimental poetry.
- 5
UKslangSemen.
verb
- 1
To exhaust, use up, disable.
- 2
To punish.
- 3
UKslangEjaculate.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Gruel in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense thin watery porridge:
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 gruel come from?
From Middle English gruel, gruwel, greuel, growel (“meal or flour made from beans, lentils, etc.”), from Old French gruel (“coarse meal; > French gruau”), from Medieval Latin grutellum, diminutive of Medieval Latin grutum (“flour; meal”), from a Germanic source, likely Old English grūt (“meal; grout”) or perhaps Frankish *grūt; both from Proto-Germanic *grūtiz (“ground material; grit”). Compare Dutch gruit, Middle Low German grūt, Middle High German grūz, German Grütze (“grout”). Related also to English groats, grit.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).