Word: grievous (adjective)

Associations

The word "grievous" means very serious or severe, often causing great pain, sadness, or trouble. It is used to describe something that is deeply harmful or upsetting.

• The loss of a loved one can be a grievous experience. (Here, "grievous" shows deep sadness.)
• The company suffered grievous financial losses last year. (Here, it means very serious or damaging.)
• He made a grievous mistake by ignoring the warning signs. (This means the mistake caused serious problems.)

Synonym: "serious" is a common synonym, but "grievous" often implies a stronger emotional or moral weight, not just importance.

Substitution

You can replace "grievous" with words like:

• severe (focuses more on intensity or seriousness)
• terrible (more general, emotional)
• serious (less emotional, more factual) Changing the word changes how strong or emotional the meaning feels.

Deconstruction

"Grievous" comes from the Old French word "grievous," which means causing grief or sorrow. The root is related to "grief," meaning deep sadness or pain. The "-ous" ending is a suffix that turns nouns into adjectives, meaning "full of" or "having the quality of."

Inquiry

• Can you think of a time when you experienced something grievous? How did it affect you?
• How would you describe a grievous injury compared to a minor injury?
• When talking about mistakes, how does using "grievous" change the tone compared to just saying "big mistake"?