begrudge

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
(bĭ-grŭj') pronunciation
tr.v., -grudged, -grudg·ing, -grudg·es.
  1. To envy the possession or enjoyment of: She begrudged him his youth. See synonyms at envy.
  2. To give or expend with reluctance: begrudged every penny spent.
begrudger be·grudg'er n.
begrudgingly be·grudg'ing·ly adv.

Top

These two words overlap in meaning, but not completely. To begrudge someone something (such as success or a reward) is to envy them for having it, whereas to grudge something is to resent the giving (by yourself or someone else) of something that you think you have a right to. Both words are commonly used in negative contexts. Examples best clarify the distinction, although the meanings overlap in practice:
I imagine you won't grudge me a glass of brandy first—Penelope Fitzgerald, 1988
Considering the responsible job they do, we should not begrudge them a good income—Daily Mail, 2007.

Previous:beg the question, been and (gone and) –, because
Next:behalf, being as, belittle
Top

verb

    To feel envy towards or for: covet, envy, grudge. See desire.

Word Tutor:

begrudge

Top
pronunciation

IN BRIEF: To give or do reluctantly or without pleasure.

pronunciation The patient seemed to begrudge us our good health.

LearnThatWord.com is a free vocabulary and spelling program where you only pay for results!

Random House Word Menu:

categories related to 'begrudge'

Top
Random House Word Menu by Stephen Glazier
For a list of words related to begrudge, see:

  See crossword solutions for the clue Begrudge.
Translations:

Begrudge

Top

Dansk (Danish)
v. tr. - have ondt af, være utilfreds med, misunde

Nederlands (Dutch)
misgunnen, benijden

Français (French)
v. tr. - en vouloir à qn de qch, rechigner (de faire qch)

Deutsch (German)
v. - mißgönnen

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - φθονώ, μνησικακώ, δίνω με μισή καρδιά/με το ζόρι, λυπούμαι (που δίνω)

Italiano (Italian)
invidiare, dare malvolentieri

Português (Portuguese)
v. - invejar, dar de má vontade

Русский (Russian)
жалеть кому-н., сердиться, таить злобу, завидовать

Español (Spanish)
v. tr. - escatimar, regatear, dar o tomar de mala gana

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - missunna ngn ngt

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
吝惜, 羡慕, 嫉妒

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
v. tr. - 吝惜, 羡慕, 嫉妒

한국어 (Korean)
v. tr. - ~을 시기하다, ~을 아까워 하다

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 出ししぶる, あまり喜ばない, いやがる, ねたむ

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) حسد غيره على, بخل على‏

עברית (Hebrew)
v. tr. - ‮קינא ב-, לא פירגן, היה צר-עין ב-, נתן באי-רצון‬


Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:

Copyrights:

Mentioned in