grave

1 of 6

noun (1)

ˈgrāv 

1

: an excavation (see excavation sense 2) for burial of a body

broadly : a burial place

2

a

: death sense 1a

believes there is life beyond the grave

b

: death sense 4

grave

2 of 6

adjective

ˈgrāv 

in sense 3 often

ˈgräv 

graver; gravest

1

a

: meriting serious consideration : important

grave problems

b

: likely to produce great harm or danger

a grave mistake

c

: significantly serious : considerable, great

grave importance

d

obsolete : authoritative, weighty

2

: having a serious and dignified quality or demeanor

a grave and thoughtful look

3

a

of an accent mark : having the form `

b

: marked with a grave accent

c

: of the variety indicated by a grave accent

4

: low-pitched in sound

5

: drab in color : somber

gravely adverb

graveness noun

grave

3 of 6

noun (2)

ˈgrāv  ˈgräv 

: a grave accent ` used to show that a vowel is pronounced with a fall of pitch (as in ancient Greek), that a vowel has a certain quality (such as è in French), that a final e is stressed and close and that a final o is stressed and low (as in Italian), that a syllable has a degree of stress between maximum and minimum (as in phonetic transcription), or that the e of the English ending -ed is to be pronounced (as in "this cursèd day")

grave

4 of 6

adverb or adjective

gra·​ve ˈgrä-(ˌ)vā 

: slowly and solemnly

—used as a direction in music

grave

5 of 6

verb (1)

ˈgrāv 

graved; graven ˈgrā-vən  or graved; graving

transitive verb

1

a

: to carve or cut (something, such as letters or figures) into a hard surface : engrave

graved the dates of his birth and death on the headstone

b

: to carve or shape with a chisel : sculpture

2

: to impress or fix (a thought, a memory, etc.) deeply

3

archaic : dig, excavate

grave

6 of 6

verb (2)

ˈgrāv 

graved; graving

transitive verb

: to clean and pay with pitch

grave a ship's bottom

Synonyms

Noun (1)

• burial
• sepulchre
• sepulcher
• sepulture
• tomb

Adjective

• heavy
• serious
• weighty

Verb (1)

• engrave
• etch
• incise
• inscribe
• insculp [archaic]

Choose the Right Synonym for grave

serious, grave, solemn, sedate, staid, sober, earnest mean not light or frivolous.

serious implies a concern for what really matters.

a serious play about social injustice

grave implies both seriousness and dignity in expression or attitude.

read the proclamation in a grave voice

solemn suggests an impressive gravity utterly free from levity.

a sad and solemn occasion

sedate implies a composed and decorous seriousness.

remained sedate amid the commotion

staid suggests a settled, accustomed sedateness and prim self-restraint.

a quiet and staid community

sober stresses seriousness of purpose and absence of levity or frivolity.

a sober look at the state of our schools

earnest suggests sincerity or often zealousness of purpose.

an earnest reformer

Examples of grave in a Sentence

Adjective

This violation of school rules is a grave matter.

His carelessness could have grave consequences.

They have placed themselves in grave danger.

I have grave doubts about this plan.

suffering from a grave illness

The judge issued his ruling with a grave expression.

The French word père is written with a grave accent over the first e.

See More

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Outside Khan Younis, workers dug a mass grave for 111 bodies that Israeli authorities handed over after troops took them from Shifa Hospital and other parts of northern Gaza. —Josef Federman, arkansasonline.com, 23 Nov. 2023

With assistance from attorney Ben Crump following NBC News' reporting, Wade was exhumed from the pauper's grave, marked only with a number, in November. —Jon Schuppe, NBC News, 23 Nov. 2023

Officials in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis transferred dozens of blue body bags from a truck into a shallow cemetery trench as a bulldozer stood ready to fill in one of the increasing number of mass graves. —Susannah George, Washington Post, 22 Nov. 2023

Or how, in the movie’s most visually and musically arresting sequence, to send the Russian and Austrian troops at Austerlitz to a bloody, watery grave. —Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times, 22 Nov. 2023

Her voice, excruciatingly beautiful, seems to be digging a grave. —Helen Shaw, The New Yorker, 21 Nov. 2023

Al-Shifa was forced to bury its dead in a mass grave inside the complex on Tuesday, with around 180 bodies buried there, El Mokhallalati said. —Yuliya Talmazan, NBC News, 14 Nov. 2023

There is hope for those of us who live (and sleep) in the real world: Getting less than 8 hours of shut-eye a night doesn’t mean you’re doomed to an early grave. —Alex Janin, WSJ, 9 Nov. 2023

Even after her husband died in an airstrike near his shop and was buried in a mass grave. —Hajar Harb, Washington Post, 9 Nov. 2023

Adjective

The victim, Daniel Lamont Adams, was taken to a hospital in grave condition, officials said. —Dan Morse, Washington Post, 26 Nov. 2023

At the same time, that political license to take military action is being afforded to a leader for whom there can only be the gravest questions about competence, foresight and the basic morality of his government. —David Marchese David Marchese Photograph By Mamadi Doumbouya, New York Times, 22 Nov. 2023

The threat from outside forces is far less sinister, dangerous and grave than the threat from within. —Soo Rin Kim, ABC News, 13 Nov. 2023

Taking refuge in fiction, understanding it as more honest than reality—the novel presents this as a psychological coping strategy with grave personal and political consequences. —Jess Bergman, The New Yorker, 8 Nov. 2023

In it, a couple sit down for a grave conversation but are soon overwhelmed by a rising tide of chuckling faces. —Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 15 Nov. 2023

In recent days, Jewish and Muslim students have been forced to confront a more grave reality: the specter of violence. —Daniel Arkin, NBC News, 7 Nov. 2023

Iran has applauded the Hamas assault, which harnessed years of clandestine Iranian support with arms, cash, and weapons-building technology to inflict the gravest attack on the Jewish state since its founding in 1948. —Scott Peterson, The Christian Science Monitor, 3 Nov. 2023

During World War I, many of the grave artifacts that archaeologists had preserved were destroyed. —Julia Binswanger, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 Oct. 2023

See More

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English, from Old English græf; akin to Old High German grab grave, Old English grafan to dig

Adjective and Noun (2)

Middle French, from Latin gravis heavy, grave — more at grieve

Adverb or adjective

Italian, literally, grave, from Latin gravis

Verb (1)

Middle English, from Old English grafan; akin to Old High German graban to dig, Old Church Slavonic pogreti to bury

Verb (2)

Middle English graven

First Known Use

Noun (1)

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adjective

1539, in the meaning defined at sense 1d

Noun (2)

1609, in the meaning defined above

Adverb Or Adjective

1683, in the meaning defined above

Verb (1)

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Verb (2)

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing grave

• a watery grave
• beyond the grave
• swear on one's mother's grave
• have one foot in the grave
• drive (someone) to an early grave
• go to one's grave
• grave robber
• dig one's own grave
• from (the) cradle to (the) grave

• a watery grave
• beyond the grave
• swear on one's mother's grave
• have one foot in the grave
• drive (someone) to an early grave
• go to one's grave
• grave robber
• dig one's own grave
• from (the) cradle to (the) grave

See More

Kids Definition

grave

1 of 4 verb

ˈgrāv 

graved; graven ˈgrā-vən  or graved; graving

1

: carve sense 1, sculpture

2

: engrave sense 1a

grave

2 of 4 noun

1

: a hole dug to bury a body in

2

: tomb sense 2

grave

3 of 4 adjective

ˈgrāv,

 in sense 3 often  ˈgräv

1

a

: deserving serious consideration : important

a grave matter

b

: threatening great harm or danger

received a grave injury

2

: dignified in appearance or manner : solemn, serious

a grave and thoughtful look

3

: of, marked by, or being an accent mark having the form `

gravely adverb

graveness noun

grave

4 of 4 adverb or adjective

gra·​ve

ˈgräv-(ˌ)ā

: in a slow and solemn manner

—used as a direction in music

Etymology

Verb

Old English grafan "dig, carve"

Adjective

from early French grave "important, serious, weighty," from Latin gravis "heavy, serious" — related to aggravate, gravity, grieve

Medical Definition

grave

adjective

ˈgrāv 

: very serious : dangerous to life

—used of an illness or its prospects

a grave prognosis