grievance

American  

[gree-vuhns] / ˈgri vəns /

noun

• grievances
  plural

1. a wrong considered as grounds for complaint, or something believed to cause distress.

   Inequitable taxation is the chief grievance.

   Synonyms:

   distress, injury, hurt, injustice, affront

2. a complaint, as against an unjust or unfair act.

   to have a grievance against someone.

3. a feeling or belief that one has been wronged, oppressed, or is the victim of an injustice; resentment.

   The conflict on campus was described as the result of racial grievance or victim culture, depending on who reported it.

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grievance British  

/ ˈɡriːvəns /

noun

1. a real or imaginary wrong causing resentment and regarded as grounds for complaint

2. a feeling of resentment or injustice at having been unfairly treated

3. obsolete affliction or hardship

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grievance Idioms  

1. see air one's grievances.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• pregrievance
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• grievances
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of grievance

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English greva(u)nce, greva(u)ns “injury, offense, annoyance,” from Old French grevance “harm, injury, trouble, misfortune”; see origin at grieve, -ance

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Explanation

A grievance is a complaint. It can be formal, as when an employee files a grievance because of unsafe working conditions, or more of an emotional matter, like a grievance against an old friend who betrayed you. A grievance is a complaint that may or may not be justified. Often a grievance is a complaint about something that breaks a rule or a law, like a grievance filed against a person who builds a fence in his front yard in a town that does not allow that. If that same neighbor plants flowers he knows make you sneeze uncontrollably, you might be unhappy about that, but this is the kind of grievance you can work out among yourselves.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

grievance grievances

"If you have a grievance against the system, you don't care which part of the system you are targeting."

From Barron's ● Oct. 20, 2026

The nation's spy chief, Australian Security Intelligence Organisation director-general Mike Burgess, warned last year politically motivated violence was among the agency's fastest growing security concerns, driven by "grievance narratives, conspiracies and online echo chambers".

From Barron's ● Oct. 20, 2026

The grievance isn’t new: A London minister complained in 1624 that “youth were never more sawcie.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

Should my friend file a grievance with the State Bar of Texas?

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026

“Five and a half to four: grievance stands.”

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

As long as Luka’s list of grievances is long.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 24, 2026

"On one side you have people with grievances you can understand, but from the moment there is vandalism and the lives of local residents are put at risk, then we can't accept it," he adds.

From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026

He said that while the result was within his expectations, he felt that awareness of the independence movement and its grievances had been raised.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026

While most of the protests have been peaceful, students say they are determined to press the government to address the problems of too many absent teachers, dilapidated buildings, overcrowded class schedules and other grievances.

From Barron's ● Oct. 13, 2026

I’m going to guess that Barack might have felt the same way about his own grievances.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

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Related Words

• grief
• hardship
• injustice
• objection
• outrage
• resentment
• sorrow
• unhappiness

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