Search Result for "grievous": 
Wordnet 3.0

ADJECTIVE (4)

1. causing fear or anxiety by threatening great harm;
- Example: "a dangerous operation"
- Example: "a grave situation"
- Example: "a grave illness"
- Example: "grievous bodily harm"
- Example: "a serious wound"
- Example: "a serious turn of events"
- Example: "a severe case of pneumonia"
- Example: "a life-threatening disease"
[syn: dangerous, grave, grievous, serious, severe, life-threatening]

2. causing or marked by grief or anguish;
- Example: "a grievous loss"
- Example: "a grievous cry"
- Example: "her sigh was heartbreaking"
- Example: "the heartrending words of Rabin's granddaughter"
[syn: grievous, heartbreaking, heartrending]

3. of great gravity or crucial import; requiring serious thought;
- Example: "grave responsibilities"
- Example: "faced a grave decision in a time of crisis"
- Example: "a grievous fault"
- Example: "heavy matters of state"
- Example: "the weighty matters to be discussed at the peace conference"
[syn: grave, grievous, heavy, weighty]

4. shockingly brutal or cruel;
- Example: "murder is an atrocious crime"
- Example: "a grievous offense against morality"
- Example: "a grievous crime"
- Example: "no excess was too monstrous for them to commit"
[syn: atrocious, flagitious, grievous, monstrous]



The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

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]


WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

grievous
    adj 1: 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]
    2: 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]
    3: 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]
    4: 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]