1
as in harsh
difficult to endure
the months of chemotherapy seemed almost as grievous an affliction as the cancer itself
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in painful
hard to accept or bear especially emotionally
the death of a spouse can be a grievous loss from which one never recovers
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3
as in dangerous
involving potential loss or injury
a grievous wound that requires a doctor's immediate attention
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4
as in tragic
of a kind to cause great distress
the grievous cost of the war in human lives weighed heavily on the president's mind
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of grievous
Opposing the legislation were Texas trial lawyers and a long line of Texans who had lost family members or suffered grievous injury in accidents on Texas’s increasingly dangerous roads.
—
Saul Elbein, The Hill, 9 Apr. 2025
Ramsey has been sentenced to serve eight years and six months at an institution for youth offenders, having pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent and possession of an offensive weapon.
—Abby Monteil, Them, 17 Jan. 2025
Our environment and health are being threatened, our democracy is at a grievous tipping point, our global allies are alarmed and our adversaries are grinning.
—Chicago Tribune, 5 Mar. 2025
Both have become fully mobilized war nations, allowing Russia to bounce back from its initial failures and allowing Ukraine, a smaller country, to keep fighting on through grievous losses.
—Mick Ryan, Foreign Affairs, 21 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for grievous
Saul Elbein, The Hill, 9 Apr. 2025
Ramsey has been sentenced to serve eight years and six months at an institution for youth offenders, having pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent and possession of an offensive weapon.
—Abby Monteil, Them, 17 Jan. 2025
Our environment and health are being threatened, our democracy is at a grievous tipping point, our global allies are alarmed and our adversaries are grinning.
—Chicago Tribune, 5 Mar. 2025
Both have become fully mobilized war nations, allowing Russia to bounce back from its initial failures and allowing Ukraine, a smaller country, to keep fighting on through grievous losses.
—Mick Ryan, Foreign Affairs, 21 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for grievous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for grievous
Adjective
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President Donald Trump has launched harsh immigration actions in his first 100 days in office—detaining more people for immigration violations, allowing arrests outside schools and courthouses, and sending more than 200 Venezuelan men to be imprisoned in El Salvador.—
Brian Bennett,
Time,
29 Apr. 2025
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Vietnamese refugees who got a warm welcome from America puzzle at family separations, harsh rhetoric In Vietnam, Lam had owned three companies.—
Anh Do,
Los Angeles Times,
29 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Like many things in life, trying to fix something later is much more painful.—
Kevin Campbell,
Forbes.com,
29 Apr. 2025
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Lotions in particular remove hair from the root, are less painful than wax strips, and are much cheaper than laser hair removal and electrolysis.—
Danielle Jackson,
Glamour,
29 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Reading back over her sister’s occasionally gossipy letters, maybe Cassie thought those qualities were just too dangerous to reveal publicly.—
Nina Metz,
Chicago Tribune,
30 Apr. 2025
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The album calls out what Young sees as dangerous overreach by corporate interests into food systems and public health.—
Heather Hunter,
The Washington Examiner,
30 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Our thoughts are with all those affected by this tragic incident.—
Phil Boucher,
People.com,
27 Apr. 2025
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Boca Bash drowning The 2018 Boca Bash turned tragic when 32-year-old Francis Roselin, of West Palm Beach, drowned.—
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten,
FOXNews.com,
27 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Pritzker — who was rumored to be on the shortlist to be former Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate last year — issued a searing rebuke of the Trump administration, in his address.—
Sarah Fortinsky,
The Hill,
28 Apr. 2025
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Her viral speech in Minneapolis in 2020 remains one of the most searing indictments of state violence in recent memory.—
Sughnen Yongo,
Forbes.com,
10 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Such evidence could support the view that incessant loud noise amounts to torture or cruel treatment towards cetaceans, in turn galvanizing support for a new right to be free from such harm.—
David Gruber,
Time,
24 Apr. 2025
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But this is the cruel and unreasonable state of this Administration's deportation policy.—
Thomas G. Moukawsher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Although with the right tools, tough jobs can be a lot easier, faster, and even less hazardous in the case of sharp tools.—
Maggie Horton,
People.com,
24 Apr. 2025
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Allowed to crumble into disrepair by its owners, the Meruelo family, the famous hotel was ordered demolished by the city as a hazardous structure.—
Andres Viglucci,
Miami Herald,
24 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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In 2022, Manhattan Federal Judge Jed Rakoff, who presided over both trials, decided The Times was not liable for defamation while jurors were deliberating, that the error amounted to unfortunate editorializing but not libel.—
Molly Crane-Newman,
New York Daily News,
22 Apr. 2025
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Such a difficult call really spotlighted for the first time how tough a situation he has been left in by Eddie Howe’s unfortunate absence (due to pneumonia).—
Chris Waugh,
New York Times,
22 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Grievous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/grievous. Accessed 3 May. 2025.
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