grievous

English

Alternative forms

• greuous (obsolete)
• grievious, grevious (less common / nonstandard outside dialects)

Etymology

From grieve, from the Middle English greven, from the Old French grever, from Latin gravō ‎(“I burden”). Developed in the 13th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡriː.vəs/
• Rhymes: -iːvəs
• (nonstandard outside dialects) IPA^(key): /ɡɹiː.viː.əs/ (often used in conjunction with the spelling grievious)

Adjective

grievous ‎(comparative more grievous, superlative most grievous)

1. Causing grief, pain or sorrow.
   • 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island

     As for the captain, his wounds were grievous indeed but not dangerous.

2. Serious, grave, dire or dangerous.

Translations

causing grief, pain or sorrow

• Bulgarian: скръбен (bg) ‎(skrǎben), печален (bg) ‎(pečalen), мъчителен (bg) ‎(mǎčitelen)
• Dutch: pijnlijk (nl)
• Russian: мучи́тельный (ru) ‎(mučítelʹnyj), печа́льный (ru) ‎(pečálʹnyj)

Serious, grave, dire or dangerous.

• Bulgarian: тежък (bg) ‎(težǎk), сериозен (bg) ‎(seriozen)

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:lamentable