Abstract: A groove cutter (1) has a groove cutting edge (3) that is inclined at a lead angle (.kappa.). The groove cutting edge (3) has a hollowed-out center region (11) between end regions (9, 10) on both sides, and connection cutting edges (15, 16) provide transitions between the center region (11) and the end regions (9, 10). The connection cutting edges (15, 16) have different lengths and are disposed with respect to one another at a flank angle (.delta.). The groove cutter (1) also has a cutting edge corner (7) that leads in a groove cutting direction (5), along with a cutting edge corner (8) that trails in the groove cutting direction (5). One of the connection cutting edges (15) is disposed adjacent to the leading cutting edge corner (7) and forms an inclination angle (.alpha.) with respect to an adjacent end region cutting edge (12). This angle of inclination (.alpha.) is greater than an oppositely directed inclination angle (.beta.