Gravely
Americannoun
Explanation
To do something gravely means to do it in a solemn, serious way. When someone gives you bad news, they often say it gravely. If you ask about a sick relative and your dad gravely shakes his head, you'll know that the relative isn't feeling better. Anything you do or say gravely conveys a sense of solemnity. Another way to use this word is to mean "to an alarming degree," like a person who is gravely ill or a gravely mistaken answer to a test question. Gravely is from the adjective grave and its Latin root gravis, "heavy."
Vocabulary lists containing gravely
The Battle of the Labyrinth
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"Little Red Riding Hood" by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
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"The Midnight Children" by Dan Gemeinhart, Chapters 1–6
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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.
Santa Margarita 1, Damien 0: Warren Gravely IV had the only RBI in the Eagles’ win.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 6, 2026
The USS Gravely, a missile-guided destroyer, docked in Trinidad last week while U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 4, 2025
The USS Gravely will dock in Port of Spain from October 26-30, and a contingent of US Marines will conduct joint training with the Trinidad and Tobago Defense Force, it said.
From Barron's • Oct. 24, 2025
Two others identifying themselves as the USS Gravely and USS Jason Dunham last transmitted their locations in mid-August, at the American base in Guantanamo Bay.
From BBC • Sep. 3, 2025
“I haven’t seen the Gravely boys, Mama,” I said.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
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.
