'Grievous' definitions:

Definition of 'grievous'

(from WordNet)
adjective
Causing fear or anxiety by threatening great harm; "a dangerous operation"; "a grave situation"; "a grave illness"; "grievous bodily harm"; "a serious wound"; "a serious turn of events"; "a severe case of pneumonia"; "a life-threatening disease" [syn: dangerous, grave, grievous, serious, severe, life-threatening]
adjective
Causing or marked by grief or anguish; "a grievous loss"; "a grievous cry"; "her sigh was heartbreaking"; "the heartrending words of Rabin's granddaughter" [syn: grievous, heartbreaking, heartrending]
adjective
Of great gravity or crucial import; requiring serious thought; "grave responsibilities"; "faced a grave decision in a time of crisis"; "a grievous fault"; "heavy matters of state"; "the weighty matters to be discussed at the peace conference" [syn: grave, grievous, heavy, weighty]
adjective
Shockingly brutal or cruel; "murder is an atrocious crime"; "a grievous offense against morality"; "a grievous crime"; "no excess was too monstrous for them to commit" [syn: atrocious, flagitious, grievous, monstrous]

Definition of 'Grievous'

From: GCIDE
  • Grievous \Griev"ous\, a. [OF. grevous, grevos, LL. gravosus. See Grief.]
  • 1. Causing grief or sorrow; painful; afflictive; hard to bear; offensive; harmful. [1913 Webster]
  • The famine was grievous in the land. --Gen. xii. 10. [1913 Webster]
  • The thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight. --Gen. xxi. 11. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. Characterized by great atrocity; heinous; aggravated; flagitious; as, a grievous sin. --Gen. xviii. 20. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. Full of, or expressing, grief; showing great sorrow or affliction; as, a grievous cry. -- {Griev"ous*ly}, adv. -- {Griev"ous*ness}, n. [1913 Webster]

Synonyms of 'grievous'

From: Moby Thesaurus

Words containing 'Grievous'