English Meaning & Definitions
Causing severe sorrow, suffering, pain, or injury; extremely serious or grave.
- “The company suffered grievous financial losses following the scandal.”
- “He made a grievous error in judgment that cost him his career.”
English Antonyms & Opposites
Comprehensive Thesaurus Breakdown
Compare formal, informal, literary synonyms and register nuances for “grievous”.
Middle English: from Old French *grevos*, from Vulgar Latin *gravis* (heavy, burdensome, severe), derived from Latin *gravis*, ultimately from the Indo-European root *gʷre-*, meaning 'heavy'. It is etymologically related to 'grave' and 'grief'.
Grievous sounds like 'grief' + 'ous' (full of). Therefore, something grievous is full of grief, causing severe sorrow or suffering.
Frequently Asked Questions About “grievous”
1. What is the meaning of “grievous” in English?
In English, grievous (adjective) is defined as: “Causing severe sorrow, suffering, pain, or injury; extremely serious or grave.”.
2. How do you use “grievous” in a sentence?
“The company suffered grievous financial losses following the scandal.”
3. What are English synonyms of “grievous”?
4. What is the etymology and word origin of “grievous”?
Middle English: from Old French *grevos*, from Vulgar Latin *gravis* (heavy, burdensome, severe), derived from Latin *gravis*, ultimately from the Indo-European root *gʷre-*, meaning 'heavy'. It is etymologically related to 'grave' and 'grief'.
🇬🇧More English Words to English
View all English words →The base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), equal to the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium-133 atom.
A specific duration of time equal to one hour and forty-six minutes and twelve seconds.
The cardinal number equal to one thousand million (1,000,000,000), expressed in scientific notation as 10^9.
A specific duration of time equivalent to one hour and forty-six minutes.