grievance

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noun griev·ance \ ˈgrē-vən(t)s \

Definition of grievance

1 obsolete :suffering, distress

2 :a cause of distress (such as an unsatisfactory working condition) felt to afford reason for complaint or resistance

Her chief grievance was the sexual harassment by her boss.

3 :the formal expression of a grievance :complaint

filed a grievance against her employer

See grievance defined for English-language learners

See grievance defined for kids

Examples of grievance in a Sentence

He has a deep sense of grievance against his former employer.
She has been nursing a grievance all week.
In the petition, the students listed their many grievances against the university administration.
Several customers came to the front desk to air their grievances.

Recent Examples of grievance from the Web

Burdick suspects the scandal was due to the student's desire to cover up a grievance that occurred at the private school.

— ashley paige, Teen Vogue, "University of Rochester Rescinds Admission for Student Who Lied to Get In," 30 Aug. 2017
What makes the saga frustrating is that the determination of so many of the People of the Bern to pin legitimate grievances about the nomination process on the DNC flies in the face of some basic facts.

— ed kilgore, Daily Intelligencer, "Vote-Rigging Suit Against DNC Dropped, Mostly Because The DNC Can’t Rig Much of Anything," 30 Aug. 2017
The pact doesn’t include any changes to the arbitration or grievance process.

— mensah m. dean, Philly.com, "Fired Philly cop who shot 3 men is back on the beat," 25 Aug. 2017
McConnell is considered the ultimate pragmatist, willing to set aside personal grievances to steadfastly advance Republican legislative priorities.

— tina nguyen, The Hive, "Why Trump’s War on McConnell Could Imperil His Presidency," 23 Aug. 2017
The C.F.P.B. has a consumer-complaint database registering well over 700,000 grievances from unhappy customers who were happy to have a government agency on their side.

— bess levin, vanityfair.com, "Why Is Corey Lewandowski Trying to Get the Head of Elizabeth Warren’s Consumer Protection Agency Fired?," 31 July 2017
Her efforts to file a grievance with her insurance company and various state regulators went nowhere.

— paul sisson, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Insurance company won't pay entire medical bill? New state rules will help," 31 July 2017
Residents held an open forum outside the bar this weekend to air grievances about the venue and initiate a dialogue.

— rebecca dolan, Esquire, "This Bar in Brooklyn Sparked Gentrification Protests," 24 July 2017
Driving the agenda are grievances each country wants the other to address.

— matthew lee, The Seattle Times, "US-Russia talks resume; Moscow demands dachas’ return," 17 July 2017

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

Origin and Etymology of grievance

see grieve

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

See Words from the same year

grievance Synonyms

Synonyms

down [chiefly British], grudge, resentment, score

Related Words

condemnation; offense (or offence), umbrage; complaint; dudgeon, huff, peeve, pique; despite, hatefulness, malevolence, malice, maliciousness, meanness, nastiness, spite, spitefulness, spleen, venom, viciousness; animosity, antagonism, antipathy, bitterness, enmity, hostility, rancor

Near Antonyms

commendation, compliment, plaudit; acclaim, applause, praise; approval, endorsement (also indorsement), sanction

Synonym Discussion of grievance

injustice, injury, wrong, grievance mean an act that inflicts undeserved hurt. injustice applies to any act that involves unfairness to another or violation of one's rights.

- the injustices suffered by the lower classes

injury applies in law specifically to an injustice for which one may sue to recover compensation.

- libel constitutes a legal injury

wrong applies also in law to any act punishable according to the criminal code; it may apply more generally to any flagrant injustice.

- determined to right society's wrongs

grievance applies to a circumstance or condition that constitutes an injustice to the sufferer and gives just ground for complaint.

- a list of employee grievances

Other Business Terms

amortize, caveat emptor, clearinghouse, divest, due diligence, emolument, green-collar, marque, overhead, perquisite

GRIEVANCE Defined for English Language Learners

grievance

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noun

Definition of grievance for English Language Learners

: a feeling of having been treated unfairly
: a reason for complaining or being unhappy with a situation
: a statement in which you say you are unhappy or not satisfied with something

GRIEVANCE Defined for Kids

grievance

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noun griev·ance \ ˈgrē-vəns \

Definition of grievance for Students

:a reason for complaining

Law Dictionary

grievance

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noun griev·ance \ ˈgrē-vəns \

legal Definition of grievance

1 :a cause of distress (as an unsatisfactory working condition or unfair labor practice) felt to afford a reason for complaint or dispute; especially :a violation of a collective bargaining agreement usually by the employer

2 :the formal expression of a grievance brought especially by an employee as the initial step toward resolution through a grievance procedure — see also arbitration, grievance arbitration at arbitration, mediation