Basic+ Word of the Day: groan

groan (noun, verb) past tense: groaned

A groan is a low, mournful sound that someone makes because of pain or grief.

• Emma's groans filled the room when she found her dead goldfish.

Groan also means ‘to make a deep, mournful sound because of pain or grief.’

• Fred groaned all night because he had a toothache.
• When our team lost the football game in the last seconds, the crowd groaned.

Did you know?

Do you know the difference between a groan and a grunt? A groan is a low, sad sound that you may make if you have a toothache. The groan can go on for a while. A grunt is a shorter sound like the snorting of a pig. You may grunt if someone punches you in the stomach.

Related words

groaner: a joke that is so bad that you groan instead of laugh. Here is an example of a groaner: “What day do chickens hate the most? Fry-day.”

In pop culture

Watch Hugh Jackman as he grunts and groans while recording the audio for the X-Men movies.

There are other meanings of groan.