grievous
part of speech
adjective (grievous, more grievous)
meaning for a pupil
1) (formal) Very serious and harmful: a grievous mistake. tree →
2) (formal) Causing great sadness or pain: a grievous loss. tree →
3) (law, UK) «Grievous bodily harm» (GBH) is a serious crime of badly hurting someone. tree →
sense in the lessons
In the Tanakh and Jewish tradition: It describes a very serious sin, as with Sodom, or a heavy famine. Interpretation: The rabbis read the sins of Sodom as cruelty to the poor and the stranger. Abraham's trouble over sending Ishmael away shows his care for his son. In the primary lessons: In history, Bible and old stories it marks serious wrongs, sins and losses. In UK news and law, GBH is a serious assault. In everyday speech it is rare and sounds formal or old-fashioned. Phrases: a grievous error, grievous loss, grievous bodily harm.
examples
- And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight on account of his son. (Torah GEN.21.11, JPS 1917) tree →
- And the LORD said: 'Verily, the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and, verily, their sin is exceeding grievous. (Torah GEN.18.20, JPS 1917) tree →
- and the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine which followeth; for it shall be very grievous. (Torah GEN.41.31, JPS 1917) tree →
- A soft answer turneth away wrath; but a grievous word stirreth up anger. (Writings PRO.15.1, JPS 1917) tree →
- For thus saith the LORD: Thy hurt is incurable, and thy wound is grievous. (Prophets JER.30.12, JPS 1917) tree →
- A grievous vision is declared unto me: 'The treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth. (Prophets ISA.21.2, JPS 1917) tree →
- The general made a grievous mistake and lost the battle. tree →
- The death of the queen was a grievous loss to the country. tree →
- The man was charged with grievous bodily harm. tree →
- «I have sinned grievously,» said the knight in the story. tree →
- A grievous wound needs a doctor straight away. tree →
- Forgetting her birthday was not a grievous crime. tree →
- But at last the gods afflicted the country with a grievous pestilence, which made terrible havoc among the people. tree →
note
Pronounced GREE-vus (two syllables). A very common mistake is «GREE-vee-us» or spelling it «grievious»: there is no i before -ous. Related: grief, grieve, grievance.
In the corpora
- And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight on account of his son.
- and the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine which followeth; for it shall be very grievous.
- A grievous vision is declared unto me: 'The treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth.
- They are all grievous revolters, going about with slanders; they are brass and iron; they all of them deal corruptly.
- My wound is grievous; but I said: 'This is but a sickness, and I must bear it.'
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «grievous» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.