Grievous

How to spell grievous

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce grievous

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does grievous mean?

1. adjectiveExtremely serious, severe, or causing great suffering or harm.

Grievous in a sentence

• The report described a grievous failure in the safety procedures.

• He was charged with causing grievous bodily harm during the fight.

Where does grievous come from?

Language of origin: French

This adjective came into English in the 1300s from the Old French grevos (also spelled grievous), meaning 'burdensome' or 'causing grief'. That French word was built on grever, 'to burden or oppress', which descends from the Latin gravare, 'to weigh down', and ultimately from gravis, meaning 'heavy' or 'serious'. The same Latin gravis sits behind a whole family of English words about weight and seriousness, including 'grave', 'gravity', and 'aggravate'. The modern sense of something extremely serious or painful preserves that core idea of a heavy burden pressing down on a person. A useful spelling note: although the word is built from 'grieve', it has only three syllables (GREE-vus) and no extra letter; the common error 'grievious' wrongly slips in a second 'i' that was never there.

How the word is built

• griev- (from grieve, ultimately Latin gravis: heavy, serious)
• -ous (full of, characterised by)