gropy behavior
- noun
- Offensive
:
manoseo
- She immediately called out his gropy behavior when he tried to touch her inappropriately.
Examples
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The manager was fired after repeated reports of his gropy behavior at company events.
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We need to address gropy behaviors in the workplace.
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Rumors of gropy behavior have tainted his reputation in the industry.
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His gropy behavior made her uncomfortable.
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She immediately called out his gropy behavior when he tried to touch her inappropriately.
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The manager was fired after repeated reports of his gropy behavior at company events.
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Rumors of gropy behavior have tainted his reputation in the industry.
Synonyms
1
9.0
Unwanted physical contact that makes someone feel scared or uncomfortable
Antonyms
How Inappropriate
- NSFW
119
5.7
- Offensive
377
4.6
- Offensive
- Offensive
1
9.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
gropy + behavior
The phrase is directly compositional: 'gropy' is clearly derived from 'grope' (to touch someone inappropriately) with an adjectival/nominalizing -y, and 'behavior' means conduct, so the combined meaning 'behavior involving groping/unwanted touching' is derivable from the parts. A B1 learner who knows the constituent meanings would therefore infer the MWE, although the form 'gropy' is nonstandard/misspelt (more commonly 'groping behavior'), which may reduce recognition but not its compositional transparency.
Etymology
Gropy behavior likely comes from the verb grope, which means to feel or touch someone with the hands often without permission, plus the simple ending -y that gives the idea of being full of that action. So the image of someone reaching and touching without permission helps you remember that gropy behavior means 'inappropriately touch' or 'unwanted physical contact'.