Disgruntle

[Dr. Goodword]

• disgruntle •

Pronunciation: dis-grênt-êl • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Verb, transitive

Meaning: To cause someone to be grumpy, to sulk; to generally put someone in ill humor.

Notes: Here is a sort of Orphan Negative. There is a verb to gruntle, but it has the same meaning as disgruntle, so it is not exactly derivationally related. It does have a derivationally related noun, disgruntlement, and an adjective, disgruntling. So, you may feel free to used this word without the prefix, dis-, but don't expect to be understood.

In Play: Almost anyone finds losing a game a little disgruntling: "When Hugh Jeego lost the croquet match, he repaired to his room somewhat disgruntled." Anything that upsets you disgruntles you: "Do you think I disgruntled Blanche Dwight by telling her that her wig was askew?"

Word History: As mentioned above, etymologically today's Good Word is based on gruntle "to grumble, grunt", usually used to describe animal noises. In fact, this word goes back to grunt + the archaic diminutive suffix -le. This means it originally meant "to grunt a little". It is related to German grunzen and Danish grynte "to grunt". There is also a Latin word, grundire "to grunt" and a Greek relative gruzein "to grunt", so we must have inherited it from Proto-Indo-European. (Lest we disgruntle Kathleen McCune formally of Norway, let us now thank her profusely for suggesting today's very Good Word.)

[George Kovac]

Thank you, Dr GoodWord, for raveling the meaning of this word.

[David Myer]

Yes, a most interesting one.

I forwarded it to a friend of mine with whom I have often discussed the concept of gruntled. Here is his reply:

"And the example often cited is from PGWodehouse’s Code of the Woosters -

‘He spoke with a certain what-is-it in his voice, and I could see that, if not actually disgruntled, he was far from being gruntled.’

Some websites claim that PG Wodehouse actually ‘coined’ gruntled, but that’s probably stretching it a bit.

But I don’t hold with GoodWord that gruntle and disgruntle have the same meaning. ’To grumble, to grunt’ it says, but while grumble indicates displeasure, surely grunt implies no more than a type of sound; I may grunt with pain or grunt with contentment. "

He maybe has a point - a pig can certainly grunt in its contentment. Whether that extends to gruntle or not is debatable, though.

[Slava]

Another point to make is that disgruntle is transitive, whereas gruntle is intransitive.

Here is what Merriam-Webster has on the matter:

The verb disgruntle, which has been around since 1682, means "to make ill-humored or discontented." The prefix dis- often means "to do the opposite of," so people might naturally assume that if there is a disgruntle, there must have first been a gruntle with exactly the opposite meaning. But dis- doesn't always work that way; in some rare cases it functions instead as an intensifier. Disgruntle developed from this intensifying sense of dis- plus gruntle, an old word (now used only in British dialect) meaning "to grumble." In the 1920s, a writer humorously used gruntle to mean "to make happy"—in other words, as an antonym of disgruntle. The use caught on. At first gruntle was used only in humorous ways, but people eventually began to use it seriously as well.

Shipley's Dictionary of Early English (1955) has this to say:

gronde* The snout of a pig; by transference, disrespectfully, a person's face. Also, a little grunt. Other forms were gruntill; grunkle (Scotch) . Hence, to gruntle, to make a sound like a swine; to grumble, complain. Disgruntled is, obviously, with one's nose out of joint.