grinch

noun

ˈgrinch How to pronounce grinch (audio)
Definition of grinchnext
as in cynic
a person who spoils the pleasure of others accused the mayor of being a grinch after he cancelled the city's annual holiday parade for budgetary reasons

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of grinch However, a grinch mascot, who was on cleanup duty at the event, stepped in and saved the wedding, per WTAE. — Kimberlee Speakman, PEOPLE, 28 Aug. 2026 The nonprofit donated almost $200,000 to the church for the materials a grinch stole. — Dawn White, CBS News, 10 Dec. 2025 To play off the flavor of the candy, the grinch-green dough has a subtle cinnamon flavor of its own. — Alana Al-Hatlani, Southern Living, 30 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for grinch
  1. cynic
  2. drag
  3. killjoy
  4. crab
  5. spoilsport
  6. complainer
  7. bore
  8. party pooper
Noun
  • Williams led the Bears to an NFC North title and a playoff victory last season, but some cynics think the Bears are due for a regression this season.
    — Dan Santaromita, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026
  • That the earnestness the genre requires galls us cynics, who love to hide in our books, away from all those pesky bodies in the first place?
    — Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of cynic
Noun
  • Set in a garden near the Bahnhofstrasse shopping drag (Zurich's equivalent of Fifth Avenue), the hotel looks right onto Lake Zurich and the Alps—but that's not the only nice view.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Atlanta Pride Festival and Parade The Southeast’s largest Pride celebration includes concerts, dance parties, a parade and the Starlight Cabaret outdoor drag show.
    — Mary Caldwell, AJC.com, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of drag
Noun
  • In the end, at the risk of sounding like a killjoy, a real way to save the planet and save money is to just buy and produce less.
    — Kara McGrath, Allure, 22 Apr. 2026
  • Which poem, and why did the killjoys at the magazine turn it down?
    — Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 22 Mar. 2026
Definition of killjoy
Noun
  • The rooftop bar looks over Hyde Park, lending a welcome (and rather rare) sense of openness in central London, while ABC Kitchen—the London outpost of the New York restaurant famed for its crab toast—brings in a high-flying food crowd.
    — Katharine Sohn, Architectural Digest, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Spicy crab in the front of the ice bath had insufficient ice.
    — Sacbee.com, Sacbee.com, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of crab
Noun
  • The first thing Sweetpea does, after ditching her spoilsport colleague at the hotel, is pay a visit to SwiftGC, a payment processor recently acquired by Tender.
    — Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 6 Feb. 2026
  • Granted, this might simply be an old-fashioned spoilsport way to view the market.
    — Michael Santoli, CNBC, 10 Jan. 2026
Definition of spoilsport
Noun
  • My ‘Deborah Vance Show senior writer’ persona was kind of a rude complainer with an incipient alcohol problem.
    — Merrill Markoe, Deadline, 21 Aug. 2026
  • Are they deluded into thinking that the complainers are just a squeaky wheel minority and the majority of fans are happy with it?
    — Jeremy Rutherford, New York Times, 13 July 2026
Definition of complainer
Noun
  • Snow recently did an in-depth shoot-out of quarter-bore cartridges, new and old.
    — John B. Snow, Outdoor Life, 24 Sep. 2026
  • Virtually all those trips involved hassle that was a bore to write about and just as boring to read.
    — Paul Theroux, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of bore
Noun
  • But none of the Premier League’s refs or growing cohort of specialist VARs revel in the role of party pooper.
    — Graham Scott, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2026
  • But in their quest to make history, the guests turned into party poopers.
    — The San Diego Union Tribune, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 Sep. 2025
Definition of party pooper

Browse Nearby Words

grin
grinch
grinches
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Cite this Entry

“Grinch.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/grinch. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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