grave

grave

adjective

Definition of GRAVE

1

having a matter of importance as its topic <leaving gossip and celebrities to other magazines, this journal focuses on the grave issues confronting the nation>

Synonyms grave, heavy, weighty

Related Words big, consequential, eventful, important, major, material, meaningful, momentous, portentous, significant, solid, substantial

Near Antonyms frivolous, insignificant, lite, little, Mickey Mouse, minor, silly, slight, small, trivial, unimportant

Antonyms light, unserious

2

involving potential loss or injury <going over Niagara Falls poses a grave danger>

Synonyms grave, grievous, hazardous, jeopardizing, menacing, parlous, perilous, risky, serious, threatening, unhealthy, unsafe, venturesome

Related Words dicey, insecure, precarious, treacherous, uncertain; ultrahazardous; chance, haphazard, random; distressing, sickening, unpleasant; ugly, wicked; adverse, bad, baleful, baneful, deleterious, detrimental, evil, harmful, hurtful, ill, inimical, injurious, malignant, nasty, noxious, pernicious, pestilent; deadly, deathly, destructive, dire, fatal, fateful, fell, killer, lethal, mortal, murderous

Near Antonyms advantageous, beneficial, good; ultrasafe

Antonyms harmless, innocent, innocuous, nonhazardous, nonthreatening, safe, unthreatening

3

not joking or playful in mood or manner <when I asked him how his dog was doing, he looked grave and said, “Not good”>

Synonyms earnest, grave, humorless, no-nonsense, po-faced [British], sedate, severe, sober, sobersided, solemn, staid, uncomic, unsmiling, weighty

Related Words harsh, stern, strict; businesslike, professional; dignified, distinguished, elevated, serious-minded; gloomy, grim

Near Antonyms antic, comic, comical, droll, farcical, funny, hilarious, hysterical (also hysteric), laughable, light, light-headed, ludicrous, ridiculous, riotous, risible, screaming, sidesplitting, uproarious; featherbrained, flighty, frivolous, goofy, harebrained, lighthearted, puerile, scatterbrained; absurd, asinine, balmy, brainless, cockeyed, crazy, cuckoo, daffy, daft, dotty, fatuous, foolish, half-witted, insane, jerky, kooky (also kookie), loony (also looney), lunatic, mad, nonsensical, nutty, preposterous, sappy, screwball, senseless, silly, unwise, wacky (also whacky), weak-minded, witless, zany

Antonyms facetious, flip, flippant, humorous, jesting, jocular, joking, kittenish, ludic, playful

4

having a low musical pitch or range <a grave hexachord>

Synonyms bass, grave, low, throaty

Related Words boomy, tubby; gruff, hoarse, husky, rough, smoky (also smokey)

Near Antonyms squeaking, squeaky, squealing, thin; earsplitting, penetrating, piercing, strident; peeping, tinny

Antonyms acute, high, high-pitched, piping, sharp, shrill, treble