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 serious, heavy, weightyRelated Words big, consequential, eventful, important, major, material, meaningful, momentous, portentous, significant, solid, substantialNear Antonyms frivolous, insignificant, lite, little, Mickey Mouse, minor, silly, slight, small, trivial, unimportantAntonyms light, unserious

2 involving potential loss or injury going over Niagara Falls poses a grave danger Synonyms dangerous, grievous, hazardous, jeopardizing, menacing, parlous, perilous, risky, serious, threatening, unhealthy, unsafe, venturesomeRelated 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, murderousNear Antonyms advantageous, beneficial, good; ultrasafeAntonyms 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, serious, humorless, no-nonsense, po-faced [British], sedate, severe, sober, sobersided, solemn, staid, uncomic, unsmiling, weightyRelated Words harsh, stern, strict; businesslike, professional; dignified, distinguished, elevated, serious-minded; gloomy, grimNear 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, zanyAntonyms facetious, flip, flippant, humorous, jesting, jocular, joking, kittenish, ludic, playful

4 having a low musical pitch or range a grave hexachord Synonyms bass, deep, low, throatyRelated Words boomy, tubby; gruff, hoarse, husky, rough, smoky (also smokey)Near Antonyms squeaking, squeaky, squealing, thin; earsplitting, penetrating, piercing, strident; peeping, tinnyAntonyms acute, high, high-pitched, piping, sharp, shrill, treble