From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
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, 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:
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, 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, heinous, monstrous]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
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]