gravitas
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of gravitas
First recorded in 1920–25; from Latin gravitās; see gravity
Explanation
Gravitas is seriousness and dignity. You might try to speak with gravitas, but no one will take you seriously if you're wearing clown makeup and giant floppy shoes. Gravitas is a Latin word that means "weight or heaviness." It came to mean a figurative weight after gravity acquired a primarily scientific meaning. A biography of Abraham Lincoln will inevitably be full of gravitas, and places like libraries, museums, and university buildings seem to have gravitas, or dignity — while grocery stores and gyms usually do not.
Vocabulary lists containing gravitas
Olympics Vocabulary for Champions
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Good Grief!: Grav, Griev
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Foreign Words and Phrases Commonly Used in English, List 2
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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.
Mark Adams of Long Beach, who was visiting Gravitas to inquire about becoming a member, stumbled upon RummiKlub’s event and decided to hop into the game.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 18, 2025
Gravitas can suggest a kind of superior, stony Olympian intonation, the way a marble statue might speak if it came to life.
From New York Times • Dec. 13, 2023
Right now, Gravitas is offering 3 tableside items: hamachi and wagyu chef counter options, a chilled zucchini gazpacho, as well as an English pea tortellini with pork trotter terrine and parmesan pork brodo.
From Salon • Jun. 17, 2023
Baker said Gravitas shifted to takeout during the pandemic but saw demand fizzle once its dining room reopened.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 26, 2023
Gravitas was all fine and good, and it was important to maintain appearances, but—Gherland shifted the baby from one arm to the other—he was getting too old for this sort of thing.
From "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" by Kelly Barnhill
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.
