gravely

«gravely» in Mova's school dictionary: In a very serious way, showing that something is… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

adverb (gravely)

meaning for a pupil

1) In a very serious way, showing that something is important or worrying. tree →

2) Very badly: gravely ill, gravely injured. tree →

sense in the lessons

In stories «gravely» describes a serious voice or face: «the doctor nodded gravely». In news it means very badly hurt or very dangerously ill. Phrases: «gravely ill», «gravely concerned», «spoke gravely».

examples

• «This is very important,» said the headteacher gravely. tree →
• The soldier was gravely wounded. tree →
• Grandad was gravely ill but he got better. tree →
• She shook her head gravely. tree →
• The police are gravely concerned about the missing boy. tree →
• “It was Dorothy,” said the Lion gravely. tree →

note

From «grave» (serious). Not related to graves in a churchyard in meaning, though spelled the same. Do not confuse with «gravelly» (rough, like gravel: a gravelly voice).

In the corpora

• Badger «nodded gravely at intervals as the animals told their story», and did not seem surprised or shocked at anything.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «gravely» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.