grave
noun · adjective
Simple meaning
A place for the burial of a corpse.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
grayvIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɡɹeɪv
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
strictly
A place for the burial of a corpse (especially beneath the ground and marked by a tombstone)
“He put flowers on his mother's grave.”
strictly
An excavation in the earth as a place of burial.
loosely
Any place of interment.
very loosely
Any place containing one or more corpses.
Death of a person
“He went to his grave without forgiving me.”
uncountableby extension
Death, destruction.
adjective
Characterised by a dignified sense of seriousness; not cheerful.
Serious, in a negative sense; important, formidable.
Low in pitch, tone etc.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A place for the burial of a corpse (especially beneath the ground and marked by a tombstone)
Used this way, grave is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“He put flowers on his mother's grave.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
How It’s Used
The word’s distinct uses, one example each.
Place / excavationnoun
“He put flowers on his mother's grave.”
Deathnoun
“He went to his grave without forgiving me.”
More ways to use grave
- “He put flowers on his mother's grave.”noun
- “He went to his grave without forgiving me.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
A tool used by an engraver.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
The force of attraction between all masses in the universe.
A sauce made by adding stock, flour, or other ingredients to the juice and fat that drips from cooking meats.
In a grave and sober manner.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A large dock from which water can be pumped out.
A tool used by an engraver.
A mark (`) placed above a vowel to indicate pronunciation.
A heap of earth placed over prehistoric tombs.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
A stone that is used to mark a grave.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: characterised by a dignified sense of seriousness
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.