gravest

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serious; gloomy adj.
crucial, dangerous adj.

ADJECTIVE

serious; gloomy

Synonyms

STRONG

dignified dull earnest heavy muted quiet sage sedate sober subdued

WEAK

cold sober deadpan dour grim grim-faced leaden long-faced meaningful no-nonsense ponderous sad saturnine solemn somber staid strictly business thoughtful unsmiling

Antonyms

STRONG

agitated boisterous excited light lively trivial unimportant

WEAK

cheerful frivolous funny happy inconsequential ridiculous silly

ADJECTIVE

crucial, dangerous

Synonyms

STRONG

acute fell heavy killing major pressing threatening

WEAK

afflictive consequential critical deadly destructive dire exigent fatal grievous hazardous important life-and-death momentous of great consequence ominous perilous serious severe significant ugly urgent vital weighty

Antonyms

STRONG

insignificant little small trivial unimportant

WEAK

cheerful frivolous funny happy inconsequential ridiculous silly

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

gravest

But many questions remain surrounding the events that posed one of the gravest challenges to the regime of General Abdourahamane Tiani, who himself came to power in a July 2023 coup.

From Barron's ● Aug. 30, 2026

Established in 2002, the ICC prosecutes individuals accused of the gravest atrocities and acts as a last resort when countries do not have adequate legal systems to ensure accountability.

From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026

The fear among its supporters is that the court will emerge weakened and less able to face the gravest global threats.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

At first, it was marketed as a narrow backstop to prosecute the gravest crimes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026

The steep decline of these numbers over the centuries suggests that, for one of the gravest human concerns—getting murdered—- the incentives that we collectively cook up are working better and better.

From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt