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.
Lacking Ayatollah Khomeini’s gravitas, Khamenei built his power by balancing Iran’s various pillars of authority.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 1, 2026
You seemed to suggest that gravitas at some level is important.
From Slate • Feb. 13, 2026
There’s a certain tone in my voice, a register he didn’t want me to use, a register I often use for pathos or gravitas.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 10, 2026
"We were told that, as they get older, men in the media are portrayed gaining gravitas and wisdom associated with authority," it stated.
From BBC • Jan. 29, 2026
“I’ll give you that Tennant brought a gravitas to the Doctor that grounded the insanity of the ludicrous situations he got himself into, but Matt Smith didn’t play the Doctor, he was the Doctor.”
From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson
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.
