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

Another shared grievance is the widespread feeling of not being listened to, which is leading to an increasing "distance" and "dissociation" between ordinary people and the state, said Pleyers.

From Barron's ● Nov. 3, 2026

The changes address a long-simmering grievance among travelers, some of whom have encountered checkout instructions that read less like the end of a vacation and more like the beginning of a Saturday spent doing housework.

From Salon ● Oct. 28, 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

Earl Spencer's emotional and defiant speech at her funeral added to that cloud of grievance hanging over Diana's untimely death.

From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026

Nourishing a grievance against the Arch- Community-Songster was useless; there was no possibility of being revenged on the Chief Bottler or the Assistant Predestinator.

From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley

In the pathetic galaxy of Gen Z men, anything from mid-century magazine ads to a Disney-owned sci-fi epic for children can be a stand in for their cultural grievances.

From Salon ● Nov. 3, 2026

He said 1,600 grievances logged, mainly from farmers requesting compensation for construction impacts on their crops, were resolved.

From Barron's ● Nov. 1, 2026

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 24, 2026

Macron has sought to distinguish between the rioters and most demonstrators, whom he said had legitimate grievances over living standards and education.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 19, 2026

“I vill now accept petitions and reqvests. If dere are any grievances, I shall hear dem.”

From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz

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Related Words

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

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