grave

1 of 6

noun (1)

ˈgrāv 

1

: an excavation (see excavation sense 2) for burial of a body

broadly : a burial place

2

a

: death sense 1a

believes there is life beyond the grave

b

: death sense 4

grave

2 of 6

adjective

ˈgrāv 

in sense 3 often

ˈgräv 

graver; gravest

1

a

: meriting serious consideration : important

grave problems

b

: likely to produce great harm or danger

a grave mistake

c

: significantly serious : considerable, great

grave importance

d

obsolete : authoritative, weighty

2

: having a serious and dignified quality or demeanor

a grave and thoughtful look

3

a

of an accent mark : having the form `

b

: marked with a grave accent

c

: of the variety indicated by a grave accent

4

: low-pitched in sound

5

: drab in color : somber

gravely adverb

graveness noun

grave

3 of 6

noun (2)

ˈgrāv  ˈgräv 

: a grave accent ` used to show that a vowel is pronounced with a fall of pitch (as in ancient Greek), that a vowel has a certain quality (such as è in French), that a final e is stressed and close and that a final o is stressed and low (as in Italian), that a syllable has a degree of stress between maximum and minimum (as in phonetic transcription), or that the e of the English ending -ed is to be pronounced (as in "this cursèd day")

grave

4 of 6

adverb or adjective

gra·​ve ˈgrä-(ˌ)vā 

: slowly and solemnly

—used as a direction in music

grave

5 of 6

verb (1)

ˈgrāv 

graved; graven ˈgrā-vən  or graved; graving

transitive verb

1

a

: to carve or cut (something, such as letters or figures) into a hard surface : engrave

graved the dates of his birth and death on the headstone

b

: to carve or shape with a chisel : sculpture

2

: to impress or fix (a thought, a memory, etc.) deeply

3

archaic : dig, excavate

grave

6 of 6

verb (2)

ˈgrāv 

graved; graving

transitive verb

: to clean and pay with pitch

grave a ship's bottom

Synonyms

Noun (1)

• burial
• sepulchre
• sepulcher
• sepulture
• tomb

Adjective

• heavy
• serious
• weighty

Verb (1)

• engrave
• etch
• incise
• inscribe
• insculp [archaic]

Choose the Right Synonym for grave

serious, grave, solemn, sedate, staid, sober, earnest mean not light or frivolous.

serious implies a concern for what really matters.

a serious play about social injustice

grave implies both seriousness and dignity in expression or attitude.

read the proclamation in a grave voice

solemn suggests an impressive gravity utterly free from levity.

a sad and solemn occasion

sedate implies a composed and decorous seriousness.

remained sedate amid the commotion

staid suggests a settled, accustomed sedateness and prim self-restraint.

a quiet and staid community

sober stresses seriousness of purpose and absence of levity or frivolity.

a sober look at the state of our schools

earnest suggests sincerity or often zealousness of purpose.

an earnest reformer

Examples of grave in a Sentence

Noun (1)

the forlorn boy put flowers on his mother's grave

a rock star who found his early grave in a plane crash

a terrible fear of the grave

Adjective

This violation of school rules is a grave matter.

His carelessness could have grave consequences.

They have placed themselves in grave danger.

I have grave doubts about this plan.

suffering from a grave illness

The judge issued his ruling with a grave expression.

The French word père is written with a grave accent over the first e.

Verb (1)

the doomed climber graved his initials into the rock face

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The 2012 discovery of a mass unmarked grave on the grounds of the Florida School for Boys was the sort of headline that short-circuits the brain. —Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 20 Dec. 2024

The foundation cautioned against sharing definitive numbers about how many graves were found, as not all possible sites may turn out to be graves, and there could be more yet to be identified. —Olatunji Osho-Williams, Smithsonian Magazine, 17 Dec. 2024

Adjective

Trapped between the innocence of childhood and the grave realities imposed by World War II, Liesel finds refuge in literature and her own burgeoning manuscript. —Boutayna Chokrane, Vogue, 21 Dec. 2024

The disease is not prioritized here as a grave public-health concern in large part because most chronic hepatitis-B cases affect people of Asian, Pacific Islander, or African descent. —Ingfei Chen, The New Yorker, 18 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English, from Old English græf; akin to Old High German grab grave, Old English grafan to dig

Adjective

borrowed from Middle French & Latin; Middle French grave "having authority, weighty, heavy, low (of a sound)," borrowed from Latin gravis "heavy, oppressive, serious," going back to Indo-European *g^wreh₂-u- "heavy," whence, from zero-grade *g^wr̥h₂-u-, Gothic kaurjos (accusative plural of presumed *kaurus) "weighty," Greek barýs "heavy," Sanskrit gurúḥ (comparative garīyas) "heavy, weighty, venerable"; from a t-derivative *g^wr̥h₂-u-to-, Latin brūtus "heavy, inert" (see brute entry 1), Latvian grū̃ts "requiring much effort or pain, hard, heavy, (of a woman) pregnant"; from *g^wréh₂-mr̥-, with e-grade and a suffix, Tocharian B krāmär "weight, heaviness"

Note: Latin has remade the original u-stem adjective into an i-stem derivative; the same process produced the antonym levis "light in weight" (see light entry 4). The Gothic adjective represented by the form kaurjos has no congeners in other Germanic languages; its appurtenance here has been questioned by some, as Winfred Lehmann ("No acceptable Proto-Indo-European etymology …Possibly the labial element was lost in Germanic, though the lack of cognates outside Gothic makes such assumptions speculative." - A Gothic Etymological Dictionary, Leiden, 1986).

Noun (2)

derivative of grave entry 2, sense 3

Adverb or adjective

Italian, literally, grave, from Latin gravis

Verb (1)

Middle English, from Old English grafan; akin to Old High German graban to dig, Old Church Slavic pogreti to bury

Verb (2)

Middle English graven

First Known Use

Noun (1)

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adjective

1539, in the meaning defined at sense 1d

Noun (2)

1609, in the meaning defined above

Adverb Or Adjective

1683, in the meaning defined above

Verb (1)

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Verb (2)

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing grave

• a watery grave
• beyond the grave
• dig one's own grave
• drive (someone) to an early grave
• from (the) cradle to (the) grave
• go to one's grave
• grave robber
• have one foot in the grave
• swear on one's mother's grave

Kids Definition

grave

1 of 4 verb

ˈgrāv 

graved; graven ˈgrā-vən  or graved; graving

1

: carve sense 1, sculpture

2

: engrave sense 1a

grave

2 of 4 noun

1

: a hole dug to bury a body in

2

: tomb sense 2

grave

3 of 4 adjective

ˈgrāv,

 in sense 3 often  ˈgräv

1

a

: deserving serious consideration : important

a grave matter

b

: threatening great harm or danger

received a grave injury

2

: dignified in appearance or manner : solemn, serious

a grave and thoughtful look

3

: of, marked by, or being an accent mark having the form `

gravely adverb

graveness noun

grave

4 of 4 adverb or adjective

gra·​ve

ˈgräv-(ˌ)ā

: in a slow and solemn manner

—used as a direction in music

Etymology

Verb

Old English grafan "dig, carve"

Adjective

from early French grave "important, serious, weighty," from Latin gravis "heavy, serious" — related to aggravate, gravity, grieve

Medical Definition

grave

adjective

ˈgrāv 

: very serious : dangerous to life

—used of an illness or its prospects

a grave prognosis