Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An actual or supposed circumstance regarded as just cause for complaint.
  • noun A complaint or protestation based on such a circumstance.
  • noun Indignation or resentment stemming from a feeling of having been wronged.
  • noun The act of inflicting hardship or harm.
  • noun The cause of hardship or harm.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A cause of grief or distress; a wrong inflicted by another or others; a source or occasion of annoyance or hardship.
  • noun Grief; affliction.
  • noun Discomfort; pain.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A cause of uneasiness and complaint; a wrong done and suffered; that which gives ground for remonstrance or resistance, as arising from injustice, tyranny, etc.; injury.
  • noun Grieving; grief; affliction.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun countable Something which causes grief.
  • noun A wrong or hardship suffered, which is the grounds of a complaint.
  • noun A complaint or annoyance.
  • noun A formal complaint, especially in the context of a unionized workplace.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an allegation that something imposes an illegal obligation or denies some legal right or causes injustice
  • noun a complaint about a (real or imaginary) wrong that causes resentment and is grounds for action
  • noun a resentment strong enough to justify retaliation

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English grevaunce, from Old French grevance, from grever, to harm; see grieve.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old French grievance, from the verb grever ("to irritate; to bother; to annoy") + -ance.

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Examples

Comments

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  • Wow. WeirdNet can be mighty judgmental.

    February 6, 2009