Antonyms for grovelling

Grammar : Verb

Spell : gruhv-uhl, grov-

Phonetic Transcription : ˈgrʌv əl, ˈgrɒv-

Definition of grovelling

Origin : 1590s, Shakespearian back-formation of groveling (Middle English), regarded as a present participle but really an adverb, from Old Norse grufe "prone" + obsolete adverbial suffix -ling (which survives also as the -long in headlong, sidelong); first element from Old Norse a grufu "on proneness." Perhaps related to creep. Related: Groveled; grovelled; groveling; grovelling.

verb abase, demean oneself

Example sentences :

Compare that moment of exaltation with the grovelling life of your Christians!
Extract from : « Lotus Buds » by Amy Carmichael

With a sense of grovelling meanness, Philip sat and listened.
Extract from : « The Manxman » by Hall Caine

He ended; and clung clasping our knees and grovelling at them.
Extract from : « The Aeneid of Virgil » by Virgil

Beggars display their stumps and their sores, grovelling on the ground like brutes.
Extract from : « Appearances » by Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson

He will paint her as Circe, mocking at her grovelling herd of swine!
Extract from : « Uncanny Tales » by Various

But she still clung to his knees, grovelling on the ground before him.
Extract from : « Orley Farm » by Anthony Trollope

They were grovelling at his feet on the instant, and a driver behind me laughed.
Extract from : « Gil the Gunner » by George Manville Fenn

Not that Ratcliffe had anything to do with all this underhand and grovelling intrigue.
Extract from : « Democracy An American Novel » by Henry Adams

This was not war, this ignominious crawling, this grovelling in the soil, this halting!
Extract from : « War and the Weird » by Forbes Phillips

Grovelling in the mud with the poor devils who cannot rise?'
Extract from : « For Faith and Freedom » by Walter Besant

Synonyms for grovelling

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019