# grunt

> English word · Noun · IPA /ɡɹʌnt/ · frequency rank #23,850

## Definitions
1. A short snorting sound, often to show disapproval, or used as a reply when one is reluctant to speak.
2. The snorting cry of a pig.
3. Any fish of the perciform family Haemulidae.
4. A person who does ordinary and boring work.
5. An infantry soldier.
6. The amount of power of which a vehicle is capable.
7. A dessert of steamed berries and dough, usually blueberries; blueberry grunt.

## Etymology
From Middle English grunten, from Old English grunnettan (“to grunt”), from Proto-West Germanic *grunnattjan, from Proto-Germanic *grunnatjaną (“to grunt”), frequentative of Proto-Germanic *grunnōną (“to grunt”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrun- (“to shout”).
Cognate with German grunzen (“to grunt”), Danish grynte (“to grunt”). The noun senses are all instances of zero derivation from the verb.

## Easily confused with
- **gun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grunt-vs-gun)
- **gut** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grunt-vs-gut)
- **guns** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grunt-vs-guns)
- **Gunn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grunt-vs-gunn)
- **gust** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grunt-vs-gust)
- **Gwent** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grunt-vs-gwent)
- **grunts** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grunt-vs-grunts)
- **GRU** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gru-vs-grunt)
- **grt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grt-vs-grunt)
- **grin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grin-vs-grunt)
- **gran** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gran-vs-grunt)
- **grit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grit-vs-grunt)
- **gent** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gent-vs-grunt)
- **grub** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grub-vs-grunt)
- **gout** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gout-vs-grunt)
- **glut** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glut-vs-grunt)
- **Gant** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gant-vs-grunt)
- **great** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/great-vs-grunt)
- **grand** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grand-vs-grunt)
- **grant** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grant-vs-grunt)

## Common misspellings (8)
`ggrunt`, `grnut`, `grrunt`, `grunnt`, `gruntt`, `grutn`, `gurnt`, `rgunt`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/grunt