gravity

noun, often attributive grav·i·ty \ ˈgra-və-tē \

|Updated on: 11 Jun 2018

Examples: gravity in a Sentence

Definition of gravity

plural gravities

1 a : dignity or sobriety of bearing

a person of gravity and learning

b : importance, significance; especially : seriousness

the gravity of the offense

c : a serious situation or problem

2 : weight

3 a (1) : the gravitational attraction of the mass of the earth, the moon, or a planet for bodies at or near its surface

(2) : a fundamental physical force that is responsible for interactions which occur because of mass between particles, between aggregations of matter (such as stars and planets), and between particles (such as photons) and aggregations of matter, that is 10^-39 times the strength of the strong force, and that extends over infinite distances but is dominant over macroscopic distances especially between aggregations of matter — called also gravitation, gravitational force; compare electromagnetism 2a, strong force, weak force

b : acceleration of gravity

c : specific gravity

See gravity defined for English-language learners

See gravity defined for kids

Examples of gravity in a Sentence

the hospital waiting room was filled with the kind of gravity that inevitably accompanies worry

Recent Examples of gravity from the Web

If Jordan was free of gravity, James was free of this earth.

— shawn windsor, Detroit Free Press, "Michael Jordan's mystique clouds our memories: LeBron is the G.O.A.T," 29 May 2018
If the strength of gravity were just slightly altered, our universe would have either expanded too rapidly after the Big Bang for stars and galaxies to form — or would have collapsed in a Big Crunch.

— NBC News, "Could alien life exist in parallel universes?," 28 May 2018
But as these two actresses, Ms. Markey and Emily Davis, go on to portray a succession of distinct individuals, the will to be one with the other keeps pulling at them, like some ineffable but unavoidable force of gravity.

— ben brantley, New York Times, "Review: In the Relationships in ‘Singlet,’ One and One Make One," 20 May 2018
Laws of gravity are disregarded for the rest of the mind-bending experience.

— abby jones, Billboard, "Ariana Grande's World Turns Upside Down in Futuristic 'No Tears Left To Cry' Video: Watch," 20 Apr. 2018
Previously, it was believed marine mammals were bigger because oceans freed them to grow without the constraint of gravity.

— sara sneath, NOLA.com, "Why are marine mammals so big? Louisiana experts answer," 3 Apr. 2018
Rather than fighting the force of gravity to fly straight up into the sky, rockets normally take a curving trajectory and travel nearly parallel to the planet’s surface at about 80 or 100 km above the Earth.

— grace donnelly, Fortune, "Elon Musk's Falcon 9 Rocket Tore a Hole in the Atmosphere," 26 Mar. 2018
And unlike the standard theory of gravity, string theory can describe its interactions mathematically without getting strange infinities.

— lorenzo bianchi, Newsweek, "Was This Stephen Hawking's Theory of Everything?," 19 Mar. 2018
The world’s economic centre of gravity has moved from the Azores in 1980 to Iran today and is likely to reach Tibet by 2050.

— The Economist, "Global Britain or globaloney," 15 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'gravity.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of gravity

Middle French or Latin; Middle French gravité, from Latin gravitat-, gravitas, from gravis — see ⁴grave

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1505

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

gravity Synonyms

Other Physics Terms

amplitude, centrifugal, centripetal, convection, gradient, hysteresis, kinetic, lase, quantum

GRAVITY Defined for English Language Learners

gravity

noun

Definition of gravity for English Language Learners

: a very serious quality or condition : the condition of being grave or serious
: the natural force that tends to cause physical things to move towards each other : the force that causes things to fall towards the Earth

GRAVITY Defined for Kids

gravity

noun grav·i·ty \ ˈgra-və-tē \

Definition of gravity for Students

plural gravities

1 : a force of attraction that tends to draw particles or bodies together

2 : the attraction of bodies by the force of gravity toward the center of the earth

3 : great seriousness

Word Root of gravity

The Latin word gravis, meaning “heavy” or “serious,” gives us the root grav. Words from the Latin gravis have something to do with heaviness or seriousness. Something grave, or important, such as a situation, requires serious thought and consideration. To aggravate is to make a situation more serious. Gravity is a force that pulls everything towards the ground making it feel heavy.