as in careful
said, done, or given in an unwilling or doubtful way
Her theories have begun to win grudging acceptance in the scientific community. He has earned the grudging admiration/respect of his rivals.
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of grudging
Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Aug. 2025
In Spielberg’s hands, Jaws was a lot more than a terrifying great white shark; the characters of Quint, Hooper and Brody are indelible, their grudging camaraderie bolstered by the film’s centerpiece: the chilling tale of the USS Indianapolis.
—Mike Fleming Jr, Deadline, 20 May 2025
Among his old Mount Vernon crew, there is a grudging acceptance of their diminished role in the legend.
—Ben Sisario, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2025
Their odd-couple pairing became a magnificent slow burn of hatred into grudging respect into genuine affection, making for a tantalizing will-they-won't-they.
—Tyler Aquilina, EW.com, 17 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for grudging
Verb
Looking back eight decades later, Truman's decision deserves not condemnation but a tragic and grudging gratitude.
—Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Aug. 2025
In Spielberg’s hands, Jaws was a lot more than a terrifying great white shark; the characters of Quint, Hooper and Brody are indelible, their grudging camaraderie bolstered by the film’s centerpiece: the chilling tale of the USS Indianapolis.
—Mike Fleming Jr, Deadline, 20 May 2025
Among his old Mount Vernon crew, there is a grudging acceptance of their diminished role in the legend.
—Ben Sisario, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2025
Their odd-couple pairing became a magnificent slow burn of hatred into grudging respect into genuine affection, making for a tantalizing will-they-won't-they.
—Tyler Aquilina, EW.com, 17 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for grudging
Recent Examples of Synonyms for grudging
Adjective
-
This careful tiptoeing is probably because the scissor artwork was never meant to be sold at a wider scale.—
Samantha Allen,
Them.,
24 Oct. 2025
-
Be careful when handling debris that may have blown into your yard.—
CA Weather Bot,
Sacbee.com,
24 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Clearly, the Times cannot be punished either for disliking him or for trying to defeat him.—
Stephen L. Carter,
Mercury News,
19 Sep. 2025
-
Clearly, the Times cannot be punished either for disliking him or for trying to defeat him.—
Stephen L. Carter,
Twin Cities,
18 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
And Villanelle has very begrudging respect for this woman.—
Dan Snierson,
EW.com,
13 Apr. 2020
-
Philadelphia needs its rookie quarterback, Carson Wentz, to post 300 passing yards for a third consecutive week, because there is no running the ball against the Ravens, who have the most begrudging ground defense in the league.—
DAVID WHITE,
New York Times,
16 Dec. 2016
Verb
-
Independents are more split, with 43 percent approving and 38 percent disapproving.—
Alia Shoaib,
MSNBC Newsweek,
17 Oct. 2025
-
The poll also found 52% of all voters disapproving of his handling of immigration, including 75% of Hispanic voters.—
Benjamin Siegel,
ABC News,
13 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
By pairing Torax with advanced AI models, the companies will explore the most effective ways to run the machine, potentially making future commercial fusion power plants, called ARC, more efficient and economical.—
Aman Tripathi,
Interesting Engineering,
17 Oct. 2025
-
Throwing in a few chunks of bread is an easy, economical way to make a brothy soup feel more substantial and turn it into a filling meal.—
The Washington Post,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
15 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
The documents included disciplinary information and reportedly showed that Sherrill was barred from walking at her 1994 graduation after refusing to inform on classmates involved in a cheating scandal.—
Martha McHardy,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 Oct. 2025
-
The violations include student-athletes betting on and against their own teams, sharing information with third parties for purposes of sports betting, manipulating scoring or outcomes and/or refusing to participate in the investigation.—
Ryan Canfield,
FOXNews.com,
25 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
For most players, that amount of storage is realistically enough for all but the most covetous data hoarders.—
Matt Kamen,
Wired News,
3 Aug. 2025
-
This is, in part, correct: Voldemort is extremely covetous of power.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
26 June 2025
Adjective
-
Even as American political polarization has intensified over the last eight years, both Republicans and Democrats have agreed that an increasingly powerful Beijing poses an economic, technological, and security threat to Washington and its close allies.—
Mira Rapp-Hooper,
Foreign Affairs,
29 Oct. 2025
-
On the series, JD and Michelle have grown closer, but in real life, Todd is married to Jordan Wilcox Lasance.—
Christopher Rudolph,
PEOPLE,
29 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Grudging.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/grudging. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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