grievous
Americanadjective
-
causing grief or great sorrow.
grievous news.
- Synonyms:
- painful, sorrowful, sad, tragic, heartbreaking
- Antonyms:
- delightful
-
full of or expressing grief; sorrowful.
a grievous cry.
-
characterized by great pain or suffering; severe.
grievous bodily harm;
a grievous injury.
-
having serious effects; grave.
a grievous mistake;
grievous faults.
-
extremely or shockingly wicked, cruel, brutal, etc.; atrocious.
a grievous offense against morality;
grievous crimes.
-
to incur grievous expenses.
adjective
-
very severe or painful
a grievous injury
-
very serious; heinous
a grievous sin
-
showing or marked by grief
a grievous cry
-
causing great pain or suffering
a grievous attack
Other Word Forms
- grievously adverb
- grievousness noun
- nongrievous adjective
- nongrievousness noun
- overgrievous adjective
- overgrievousness noun
Etymology
Origin of grievous
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English grevous, from Old French grevo(u)s; grieve, -ous
Explanation
If something is called grievous, you better take it seriously. Grievous is used to describe horrible things like tragedies or crimes. If you have a grievous wound, a band aid simply won't do. Grievous is derived from the noun grief, which means "sadness." When something is grievous, therefore, it's not just bad, but so bad that it causes unusually intense shock or sadness. It's often used to describe crimes and other bad deeds that go beyond mere criminality and into the world of cruelty. For example, it's harmful to steal from someone; it's grievous to steal from them and then, having stolen their stuff, beat them up or kill them.
Vocabulary lists containing grievous
The SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words, List 6
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A Wrinkle in Time
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Antigone
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A nation shaken by this grievous war now struggles to hold onto hope for economic and social change, and for some, fundamental change.
From BBC • Apr. 10, 2026
And it delivers a blunt message, warning that this executive order would inflict a grievous, possibly lethal moral harm on the nation.
From Slate • Feb. 27, 2026
Americans shouldn’t have to live any longer with such a possibility of grievous disturbance.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026
Aside from medical ailments, you may sense that long-ago unresolved issues — ruptured relationships, grievous losses, life-altering decisions — undermine your well-being in subtle but significant ways.
From MarketWatch • Jan. 7, 2026
“It was my fault. You are right that it was unlike me. It was my fault my fault my grievous fault It was because I laid about me in the press.”
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
