Groan

How to spell groan

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce groan

What does groan mean?

1. verbTo make a low, mournful sound expressing pain, weariness, or disapproval.
2. nounA low, mournful sound made in pain, weariness, or disapproval.

Groan in a sentence

• verb

  The patient began to groan as the painkillers wore off.

• noun

  A low groan escaped him as he lifted the heavy box.

• verb

  Commuters always groan when the train is delayed yet again.

• noun

  The bad pun was met with a collective groan from the office.

Where does groan come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word comes from the Old English verb grānian, meaning to murmur, complain, or lament, and it has stayed close to that sense for well over a thousand years. The root traces back to Proto-Germanic and is related to the same family that gave us the word 'grin', because both originally described facial or vocal expressions of strong feeling. Over time grānian narrowed to mean the low, drawn-out sound a person makes when in pain, weariness, or disapproval. The spelling preserves the 'oa' vowel that English settled on for this long 'o' sound, which is exactly what makes it so easy to confuse in writing with its homophone 'grown', the past participle of 'grow'. Remembering that a groan is a sound of complaint, with no connection to growing, is the best guard against that classic mix-up.

How the word is built

• groan (single root, from Old English grānian: to murmur or lament)

Words that sound like groan

They sound the same but mean different things, so the meaning decides which spelling to write.

• grown: The past participle of grow: having increased in size, amount or maturity.