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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

gruntled en · ADJ · etymology 1

Pronunciation

  • /ˈɡɹʌntl̩d/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • /ˈɡɹʌnt(ə)ld/ (General-American)
  • (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Etymology tree English gruntle Old English -ed Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos Proto-Germanic *-ōdaz Old English -od Middle English -ed English -ed English gruntled From gruntle + -ed.

Meanings

  1. (obsolete) Grunted.
    • Along about the time Orion's sword sloped down the west, Chabot heard their gruntled noises and the scurry of the flock. 1909, Mary Austin, Lost Borders, page 172:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
more gruntled Degree=Cmp lexicographic
most gruntled Degree=Sup lexicographic

gruntled en · ADJ · etymology 2

Pronunciation

  • /ˈɡɹʌntl̩d/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • /ˈɡɹʌnt(ə)ld/ (General-American)
  • (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Back-formation from disgruntled.

Meanings

  1. (humorous) Contented, pleased, satisfied.
    • Gruntled employees are happy employees. Gruntled employees like their coworkers. […] gruntled employees like their employers. … So how do you keep your employees gruntled? 2011, Jay Shepherd, “Gruntled Employees”, in Firing at Will: A Manager’s Guide, Apress, →ISBN, page 228:
    • After all, a number of players were disgruntled, and a few more were gruntled. 1996 March 13, Ira Berkow, “Sports of The Times: A case for fill-in coaches”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:
    • [S]he was rumoured to be rather less than gruntled when The Soup’s Joel McHale said: "Here's Ryan Seacrest and Tyra Banks playing Lady and the Tramp ... You figure out which is which." 2009 March 18, Ian O'Doherty, “Tyra—the cause of all evil”, in Irish Independent, retrieved 15 Dec 2023:
    • It had been a rough day, so when I walked into the party I was very chalant, despite my efforts to appear gruntled and consolate. 1994 July 25, Jack Winter, “How I Met My Wife”, in The New Yorker, New York, N.Y.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC:
    • He spoke with a certain what-is-it in his voice, and I could see that, if not actually disgruntled, he was far from being gruntled. 1938 July 16 – September 3, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “(please specify the page)”, in The Code of the Woosters, London: Herbert Jenkins, published 7 October 1938, →OCLC:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
most gruntled Degree=Sup lexicographic
more gruntled Degree=Cmp lexicographic

Antonyms

disgruntled