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
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Recent Examples of grinch
Tired of looking like the grinch (can't help the hair).
—
David Faris, Newsweek, 27 Feb. 2025
Tired of looking like the grinch (can't help the hair).
—David Faris, Newsweek, 27 Feb. 2025
Tired of looking like the grinch (can't help the hair).
—David Faris, Newsweek, 2 Feb. 2025
Tired of looking like the grinch (can't help the hair).
—Kevin Lynn, Newsweek, 6 Jan. 2025
The Pompano Beach, Fla. doesn’t play grinch alone; Veeze, Lil Yachty, Rob49, Juvenile, and B.G. also appear on the project.
—Preezy Brown, VIBE.com, 27 Dec. 2024
Buy Now 08 of 26 'How My Neighbor Stole Christmas' by Meghan Quinn
A neighborhood grinch learns the true meaning of Christmas courtesy of his sunshiny neighbor in How My Neighbor Stole Christmas.
—Sabienna Bowman, People.com, 14 Dec. 2024
But seriously, the Freedom Caucus and anti-establishment wing that ousted McCarthy over cutting that initial spending deal stands ready to be the grinch in this scenario.
—Leah Askarinam, ABC News, 21 Nov. 2023
Which brings us to this Christmas and a pernicious grinch named COVID who has teamed up with the Grim Reaper to batter us with waves of record-setting deaths, a resurgence of jobless claims and another lockdown here and in much of California.
—San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Dec. 2020
David Faris, Newsweek, 27 Feb. 2025
Tired of looking like the grinch (can't help the hair).
—David Faris, Newsweek, 27 Feb. 2025
Tired of looking like the grinch (can't help the hair).
—David Faris, Newsweek, 2 Feb. 2025
Tired of looking like the grinch (can't help the hair).
—Kevin Lynn, Newsweek, 6 Jan. 2025
The Pompano Beach, Fla. doesn’t play grinch alone; Veeze, Lil Yachty, Rob49, Juvenile, and B.G. also appear on the project.
—Preezy Brown, VIBE.com, 27 Dec. 2024
Buy Now 08 of 26 'How My Neighbor Stole Christmas' by Meghan Quinn
A neighborhood grinch learns the true meaning of Christmas courtesy of his sunshiny neighbor in How My Neighbor Stole Christmas.
—Sabienna Bowman, People.com, 14 Dec. 2024
But seriously, the Freedom Caucus and anti-establishment wing that ousted McCarthy over cutting that initial spending deal stands ready to be the grinch in this scenario.
—Leah Askarinam, ABC News, 21 Nov. 2023
Which brings us to this Christmas and a pernicious grinch named COVID who has teamed up with the Grim Reaper to batter us with waves of record-setting deaths, a resurgence of jobless claims and another lockdown here and in much of California.
—San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Dec. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for grinch
Noun
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Similarly to her dad, Abby tries to bring order to her crew of oddballs and cynics, most notably former night court prosecutor Dan Fielding (John Larroquette), a character from the original series.—
Nellie Andreeva,
Deadline,
9 May 2025
-
Abdellatif Kechiche’s 2013 graphic lesbian love story Blue Is the Warmest Color confounded cynics by winning over a jury headed by, of all people, Steven Spielberg.—
Damon Wise,
Deadline,
14 May 2025
Noun
-
Linear planning, market dominance and top-down control no longer deliver competitive advantage in an environment shaped by geopolitical rupture, institutional drag and regulatory fragmentation.—
Benjamin Laker,
Forbes.com,
25 May 2025
-
Though the costumes for Magnussen are playfully quirky and off-beat in the live-action remake, Pleakley never appears in drag on-screen, despite director Camp advocating for the disguise.—
Benjamin VanHoose,
People.com,
24 May 2025
Noun
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Without being a complete spoiler-lobbing killjoy, this is a story heavily marinated in trauma, with an emphasis on two parties’ checkered past in particular.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
29 Apr. 2025
-
Montana, the Badgers’ opening-round foe, Big Sky champs and perennial Greeley killjoys, are already used to running around at altitude.—
Sean Keeler,
The Denver Post,
19 Mar. 2025
Noun
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These included cooked shrimp, grilled chicken, imitation crab salad and spicy tuna.—
Veronica Fernandez-Alvarado,
Sacbee.com,
23 May 2025
-
The solitary creatures consume upwards of 1,000 pounds of food per day, with their diet largely consisting of shrimp, krill, crabs and schooling fish, according to NOAA.—
Brendan Rascius,
Miami Herald,
19 May 2025
Noun
-
Suddenly, the Republicans were the spoilsports who couldn’t take the joke, a position stereotypically held by politically correct liberals.—
Rebecca Jennings,
Vox,
9 Aug. 2024
-
Millennial workers are increasingly becoming the office spoilsports, with young people increasingly likely to be in it for the money rather than for fun, as years of economic turmoil force them to keep their heads down, collect their monthly paychecks, and fight for a promotion.—
BYRyan Hogg,
Fortune Europe,
26 June 2024
Noun
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Abby from Weyauwega bore witness to those predatory instincts when her dog caught sight of a squirrel in her garden.—
Nicholas Creel,
MSNBC Newsweek,
18 Apr. 2025
-
The Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition immediately calls for the third bore to be reserved for bikes.—
Sal Pizarro,
The Mercury News,
8 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
In the co-main event, Zhang Mingyang proved to be the ultimate party pooper.—
Brian Mazique,
Forbes.com,
27 Apr. 2025
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Despite his literal change of heart, the Grinch continues to symbolize holiday party poopers everywhere.—
Mike Miller,
People.com,
19 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Just wait until tech investors are smothered by the ultimate wet blanket: the uncharted territory of Trump tariffs.—
Allison Morrow,
CNN Money,
1 Apr. 2025
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The last thing a drag queen should be is a wet blanket; RuPaul is the ultimate hang.—
Jason P. Frank,
Vulture,
14 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Grinch.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/grinch. Accessed 4 Jun. 2025.
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