grievous

[gree-vuhs]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR grievous ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

causing grief or great sorrow: grievous news.

flagrant; outrageous; atrocious: a grievous offense against morality.

full of or expressing grief; sorrowful: a grievous cry.

burdensome or oppressive.

causing great pain or suffering: arrested for causing grievous bodily harm to someone in a bar.

Origin of grievous

1250–1300; Middle English grevous < Old French grevo(u)s. See grieve, -ous

Related formsgriev·ous·ly, adverbgriev·ous·ness, nounnon·griev·ous, adjectivenon·griev·ous·ly, adverbnon·griev·ous·ness, nouno·ver·griev·ous, adjectiveo·ver·griev·ous·ly, adverbo·ver·griev·ous·ness, noun

Synonyms for grievous

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR grievous ON THESAURUS.COM

1. distressing, sad, sorrowful, painful. 2. deplorable, lamentable, calamitous, heinous, flagitious, dreadful, shameful, iniquitous.

Antonyms for grievous

1. delightful.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for grievously

severely, sorely, badly, very, intensely, acutely, grievously, wistfully, sadly, greatly, woefully, gravely, painfully, regrettably, decidedly, quite, deplorably, distressingly, menacingly, perilously

Examples from the Web for grievously

Contemporary Examples of grievously

If the allegations are false, Cosby has been grievously wronged with his reputation forever tainted.
When Your Comic Hero Is an Alleged Rapist
Doug McIntyre
November 18, 2014
And Bill Weasley remains happily married to Fleur Delacour despite being “grievously scarred from an encounter with a werewolf”.
Shock! Harry Potter Has Gray Hair
Tom Sykes
July 8, 2014
Want to know why the Tea Party so eager to grievously wound the Republican Party?
How the Tea Party’s Apocalyptic Politics Are Destroying the Republican Party
Joe McLean
November 11, 2013
Li was sprawled on the kitchen floor with her 5-year-old son, Kevin Zhou, both of them grievously wounded.
Brooklyn Mother, Four Children Allegedly Slain by Jealous Cousin
Michael Daly
October 28, 2013
He was one of the most grievously injured pilots to arrive in Hanoi.
John McCain Pays Tribute to Bud Day
Josh Rogin
July 29, 2013

Historical Examples of grievously

Grievously disordered they appear to be, as Hannah tells me.
Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9)
Samuel Richardson
But just then my childish pride was grievously piqued by Philip's criticism.
In the Valley
Harold Frederic
You shall subdue the society which has grievously wronged you, to your own high spirit.
Little Dorrit
Charles Dickens
"I love Laurent as a brother," said she grievously, when her aunt had ceased speaking.
Therese Raquin
Emile Zola
What expectations I had formed, and how grievously was I disappointed!
Phaedo
Plato

British Dictionary definitions for grievously

grievous

adjective

very severe or painfula grievous injury

very serious; heinousa grievous sin

showing or marked by griefa grievous cry

causing great pain or sufferinga grievous attack

Derived Formsgrievously, adverbgrievousness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for grievously

adv.

mid-14c., from grievous + -ly (2).

grievous

adj.

c.1300, from Anglo-French grevous (Old French grevos) "heavy, hard, toilsome," from grief (see grief). Legal term grievous bodily harm attested from 1803.