grudging
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\n \n Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 9, 2024 is:\n \n
\n \n\n grudging • \\GRUH-jing\\ • adjective
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Grudging is an adjective used to describe something that is said, done, or given unwillingly or reluctantly. It can also describe someone who is unwilling or reluctant to do something.
\n\n// Her theories have begun to win grudging acceptance in the scientific community.
\n\n// A number of his former critics have become grudging admirers.
\n\n\n \n \n\n Examples:
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\u201c\u2018I\u2019m impressed,\u2019 said Mati, grudging admiration in her tone. \u2018It isn\u2019t just a pretty name and expensive ingredients. I can never make something this tasty.\u2019\u201d \u2014 Ken Liu, The Veiled Throne, 2022
\n \n \n\n Did you know?
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The English language has been carrying a grudge for a long time\u2014since the 13th century to be exact, when it took the Anglo-French verb grucher/grucer and made it grucchen/grudgen. Both words meant \u201cto grumble and complain\u201d (and if their shared definition, combined with their spelling and pronunciation, reminds you of a certain furry green Muppet who lives in a trash can, you\u2019re onto something: grouch is thought to be a grucchen descendant). Over time grucchen/grudgen became grudge, which picked up the additional, closely related meanings of \u201cto be unwilling to give or allow\u201d and \u201cto allow with reluctance or resentment,\u201d as when Virginia Woolf wrote \u201cif you come to grudge even the sun for shining \u2026 fruit does not ripen.\u201d Grudging, which developed from grudge, made its English debut in the 1530s, and has been used ever since to describe someone who is unwilling or reluctant (\u201ca grudging supporter\u201d) or something done or given reluctantly or sparingly (\u201cgrudging respect\u201d).
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