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.
The first-stage booster for the flight is making its 12 launch and SpaceX is aiming for a recovery landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 28, 2023
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
This point was echoed by Bar director Judy Elahi of Gravitas — a Michelin-starred, Modern American restaurant in Washington, DC.
From Salon • Jun. 17, 2023
The Gravitas Ventures release premiered in 13th place with $1.03 million from 1,930 screens.
From Reuters • Aug. 14, 2022
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.
