grievous

adjective

griev·​ous ˈgrē-vəs 

1

: causing or characterized by severe pain, suffering, or sorrow

a grievous wound

a grievous loss

2

: oppressive, onerous

grievous costs of war

3

: serious, grave

grievous fault

grievously adverb

grievousness noun

Synonyms

• harsh
• searing
• severe
• oppressive
• tough
• brutal
• rough
• hard
• cruel
• grim
• painful

Examples of grievous in a Sentence

the grievous cost of war

He took a foolish financial risk and suffered a grievous loss.

Recent Examples on the Web

Brown denied a more serious count of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm at a hearing last month. —Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News, 11 July 2025

Accidental deaths are grievous enough without the specific reasons for anguish and anger in the Texas floods that took more than 120 lives. —Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 10 July 2025

Brown was arrested in May at a Manchester hotel and was charged with the count of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, as well as assault causing actual bodily harm and carrying an offensive weapon. —Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 30 June 2025

The idea that residents should trust a city coming off 30 years of grievous management errors to handle this task well is hard to believe. —U T Editorial Board, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 June 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English grevous, greveus "oppressive, burdensome, injurious, severe (of sickness, wounds)," borrowed from Anglo-French grevous, grevus (continental Old French grevos), from gref "burden, hardship, grief" + -ous -ous

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

grievous

adjective

griev·​ous ˈgrē-vəs 

1

: heavy entry 1 sense 2, severe

the grievous cost of war

2

: causing pain, suffering, or sorrow

a grievous wound

3

: serious sense 4, grave

a grievous mistake

grievously adverb

grievousness noun