Gravely
Americannoun
Explanation
To do something gravely means to do it in a solemn, serious way. When someone gives you bad news, they often say it gravely. If you ask about a sick relative and your dad gravely shakes his head, you'll know that the relative isn't feeling better. Anything you do or say gravely conveys a sense of solemnity. Another way to use this word is to mean "to an alarming degree," like a person who is gravely ill or a gravely mistaken answer to a test question. Gravely is from the adjective grave and its Latin root gravis, "heavy."
Vocabulary lists containing gravely
The Battle of the Labyrinth
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"Little Red Riding Hood" by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
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"The Midnight Children" by Dan Gemeinhart, Chapters 1–6
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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.
The USS Gravely, a missile-guided destroyer, docked in Trinidad last week while U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 4, 2025
The USS Gravely, whose upcoming arrival was announced Thursday by the Trinidadian government, docked in the capital, Port of Spain.
From Barron's • Oct. 26, 2025
Two others identifying themselves as the USS Gravely and USS Jason Dunham last transmitted their locations in mid-August, at the American base in Guantanamo Bay.
From BBC • Sep. 3, 2025
Santa Margarita got a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh from Warren Gravely IV to defeat Los Alamitos 5-4.
From Los Angeles Times • May 23, 2025
Gravely, when he had done, he made libation and took a sip of honey-hearted wine, giving the cup, then, back into the hands of the young nobleman.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
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.
