All words

grovel

Meaning

To act in an obsequious or self-debasing manner, often in order to gain favor or show submission.

Examples by difficulty

Basic: Simple, everyday vocabulary — the easiest to read.

He knew he'd messed up badly. He had to make her happy again. So, he was prepared to grovel, to apologize over and over, to do anything she asked, just so she would forgive him.

The knight, his armor dented and his pride broken, had to grovel before the Goblin King. He offered his sword and promised fealty, his voice trembling with fear. He would do anything to survive the encounter, even to grovel at the feet of his captor.

The pirate captain, a mountain of a man with a scarred face, bellowed for his crew. Young Finn, trembling, was forced to grovel at his boots, begging forgiveness for dropping a crate of pickled kraken eyes. He offered the captain his best parrot, anything to avoid the lash.

The king's pet hamster, Sir Reginald Fluffernutter, knew he'd messed up by eating the royal crown. To avoid banishment to the scary sock drawer, he had to grovel, wiggling his tiny nose and offering the king a slightly chewed sunflower seed.

The badger, hoping for a spare worm, began to grovel. He wiggled his backside and made tiny squeaking noises, hoping the wise old owl would think he was the most important, most worm-worthy badger in the whole wide wood.

Normal: Standard, everyday language.

He knew he'd messed up badly, so he decided to grovel. He lowered himself, begging forgiveness, hoping his humble apologies would make her forget his mistake. It felt awful, but he had to try to win her back.

The defeated chieftain, shamed and powerless, was forced to grovel before the victor. His words of apology were choked with dust and desperation, a pathetic attempt to placate the man who now held his life and his people's fate in his hands.

The village elder, his face a mask of desperation, knew he had to grovel before the stone-skinned merchants. His community's survival depended on their meager trade, and he would beg, humiliate himself, do anything to secure their favor for the winter rations.

After accidentally spilling spaghetti on the CEO's prize poodle, Barry was forced to grovel. He offered to lick the stain off, then polish the dog's fur with his own socks. The CEO, surprisingly, found this incredibly amusing.

Bartholomew the hamster, after accidentally chewing through his owner's prize-winning bonsai, decided to grovel. He meticulously rearranged a tiny pile of sunflower seeds into the shape of an apology, then presented it with wide, pleading eyes, hoping his pathetic display would save him from the dreaded carrot stick of shame.

Advanced: Richer vocabulary that stretches an upper-level reader.

After failing the exam again, he knew he had to grovel before the professor, hoping to earn a second chance. He bowed his head, apologizing profusely, and promised to work harder, exhibiting a truly subservient attitude to get back in her good graces.

The disgraced courtier, desperate to reclaim his position, had to grovel before the king, admitting every transgression and promising unwavering loyalty, his very posture begging for forgiveness after his disastrous miscalculation.

He watched the merchant, usually so proud, suddenly crouch and try to grovel, his voice a pathetic whine as he begged the guards not to confiscate his wares. He'd seen men betray principles for much less, but this level of debasement felt truly sickening.

The aspiring jester, hoping for a royal reprieve after a particularly disastrous pie-throwing incident, began to grovel at the king's feet. He wiggled his ears, confessed his deep adoration for the royal toenails, and even offered to polish the king's golden throne with his own bristly hair.

Barnaby the badger, notorious for his incessant craving for extra grubs, would invariably grovel before the queen ant whenever a particularly succulent beetle was discovered, his snout practically brushing the polished exoskeleton, a performance of utter, desperate submission for a mere morsel.

Challenging: Rare, high-register vocabulary for serious word lovers.

The disgraced aide, having irrevocably offended his superior, was compelled to grovel, his posture dejected as he pleaded for clemency. He hoped his abject supplication would appease the potentate's ire and perhaps restore a modicum of his former standing.

The disgraced artisan, ostracized by the Guild for his shoddy clockwork, could only grovel before the Master Artificer. He pleaded with a desperate humility, his pronouncements of future diligence a pathetic echo against the unforgiving stone walls of the workshop.

When the overseer discovered the miscalculation on the quantum entanglement calibration, the apprentice felt a profound urge to grovel. He envisioned himself bowing, abject, hoping to mollify the inevitable reprisal for jeopardizing the nascent chroniton displacement.

The sycophantic courtier, hoping to curry favor with the capricious monarch, would grovel, practically performing a liturgical genuflection, his cadaverous frame contorting as he embellished his own perceived insignificance with eloquent platitudes. He'd even offer his prized petunias to the royal cat, a truly abject display.

The beleaguered alchemist, his magnum opus a sputtering, malodorous mess of singed eyebrows and questionable effluvium, was forced to grovel before the notoriously persnickety Duchess Evangeline. He presented her with a lukewarm chalice of what he optimistically termed "elixir," praying she wouldn't notice the faint shimmer of actual toad sweat.

Difficulty

Advanced — Less frequent words that stretch an upper-level vocabulary.

Appears in

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