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

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

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 this does not work, she suggests putting a more formal grievance in writing, setting out any evidence, including timesheets, and then giving the employer a reasonable chance to respond.

From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026

That if you are loud enough, and your engine is big enough, and your grievance is hot enough, that is the same thing as being a man.

From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2026

In their grievance letter, the detainees called the markups an unacceptable business practice with no apparent limit.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026

The grievance mood is strong these days at Bloomberg and most of the rest of the financial press.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026

He skipped some years or forgot or decided according to some personal accounting of grievance that the plantation was undeserving.

From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead

The "grievances," as Montgomerie puts it, are real and legitimate, say Farage's friends.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

As we talked, a young man approached and told Lopez he’d seen her airing her grievances on TV news.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026

There are a lot of historians who think that the list has an order, that it starts with the smaller grievances and ends with the things the founders were most angry about.

From Slate ● Jul. 3, 2026

The Declaration of Independence contains a 300-word self-evident introduction and then an airing of grievances directed toward the “present King of Great Britain” and his “absolute Tyranny over these States.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026

I recounted our grievances regarding food, visits, letters, studies, exercise, hard labor, and the behavior of warders.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

Related Words

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