gruntle
English
Pronunciation
Audio (Southern England): (file)
Etymology 1
From grunt + -le (early modern English frequentative suffix).
Verb
gruntle (third-person singular simple present gruntles, present participle gruntling, simple past and past participle gruntled)
Derived terms
Translations
grunt — see grunt
Etymology 2
From grunt + -le (diminutive suffix).
Noun
gruntle (plural gruntles)
Etymology 3
Back-formation from disgruntled.
Verb
gruntle (third-person singular simple present gruntles, present participle gruntling, simple past and past participle gruntled)
- (humorous) To humour; to induce the opposite effect of causing a person to become disgruntled.
Usage notes
To gruntle is not in normal usage. It has gained a certain currency amongst information security specialists to describe a process whereby the negative feelings of a disgruntled user might be reduced, or positive feelings induced.
References
- “gruntle”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
- William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “gruntle”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.