How to Use grumble in a Sentence

grumble

verb
  • Fans grumbled about the team's poor play.
  • There's been a lot of grumbling among the employees.
  • Some of the customers have been grumbling about poor service.
  • We could hear thunder grumbling in the distance.
  • Some of them would grumble to him about how things were in the city.
    — John Carlisle, Freep.com, 31 May 2025
  • King asked James, who had been grumbling.
    — Charles Bethea, New Yorker, 30 Mar. 2026
  • The older fans may still grumble, but most seem to still watch each week.
    — Greg Engle, Forbes, 11 Mar. 2021
  • Some ponied up, even while grumbling online.
    — Jacob Feldman, Sportico.com, 26 Jan. 2026
  • That just means lots of office workers are grumbling about it.
    — Julie Jargon, WSJ, 9 Oct. 2018
  • Many leaders let things pass…and then grumble on the sidelines.
    — Anne Sugar, Forbes.com, 28 Jan. 2026
  • Notice who stands to applaud your wins and who grumbles.
    — Magi Helena, Dallas Morning News, 3 Mar. 2026
  • Despite some grumbling from critics, the movie was a smash.
    — Ryan Gajewski, HollywoodReporter, 17 Nov. 2025
  • Having grumbled our gripes, a number of niceties stand out, too.
    — Larry Griffin, Car and Driver, 24 Apr. 2023
  • The kids would rehearse slightly out-of-tune songs, grumbling on the side.
    — Julyssa Lopez, Rolling Stone, 29 May 2023
  • Fans are grumbling about the state of the program, but that’s not new, either.
    — Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 17 Mar. 2024
  • The hype has caused some grumbling among the more old-school parts of the mineral world.
    — Rachel Monroe, The New Yorker, 21 Feb. 2023
  • His son hugged him, and Frazier grumbled with his team about what might have been.
    — Vann R. Newkirk Ii, The Atlantic, 16 Sep. 2025
  • Sure, there’s been grumbling and some burner phones and scrolling in the bathroom.
    — The Editors, Curbed, 15 Dec. 2025
  • And Paleo Dad grumbles but goes and picks up his spear.
    — Inga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Sep. 2025
  • Their big-fish hunting left their stomachs grumbling.
    — James L. Edwards Iii, New York Times, 11 May 2026
  • While some Corvette purists might grumble about it, most critics and fans seem to be pumped up.
    — Nathan Bomey, USA TODAY, 3 Dec. 2019
  • People are grumbling about the naked man who is being clothed as an act of mercy.
    — Lisa Gutierrez, kansascity, 19 Dec. 2017
  • No one, of course, is going to grumble about getting a five-figure bonus.
    — Susan Tompor, Detroit Free Press, 3 Feb. 2023
  • Strong was furious, grumbling all the way across the court about her defeat.
    — Emily Adams, Hartford Courant, 16 Mar. 2026
  • Shepherd grumbles after a student calls a low pitch a strike.
    — Katie Woo, New York Times, 12 Feb. 2026
  • Last week, some on the right began grumbling about Kavanaugh.
    — Author: Ashley Parker, Robert Costa, Anchorage Daily News, 11 July 2018
  • Players around the league have grumbled about being cooped up in the casino, nowhere to go.
    — Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 13 May 2025
  • Of course, some cycling fans grumbled that doing away with the men’s race was not the answer.
    — Kathryn Bertine, Outside Online, 22 Aug. 2019
  • Parisians are already grumbling about the crowds for this summer’s Olympics.
    — Catherine Porter, New York Times, 20 Feb. 2024
  • Nothing in this plan, of course, would change the stuff that Sanders and his staff have been grumbling about.
    — Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 28 Aug. 2019

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'grumble.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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