grievance

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Related to grievance: grievance procedure

griev·ance

(grē′vəns)

a. An actual or supposed circumstance regarded as just cause for complaint.

b. A complaint or protestation based on such a circumstance: The warden addressed the inmates' grievances.

2. Indignation or resentment stemming from a feeling of having been wronged.

3. Obsolete

a. The act of inflicting hardship or harm.

b. The cause of hardship or harm.

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

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

grievance

(ˈɡriːvəns)

1. a real or imaginary wrong causing resentment and regarded as grounds for complaint

2. a feeling of resentment or injustice at having been unfairly treated

3. obsolete affliction or hardship

[C15 grevance, from Old French, from grever to grieve¹]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

griev•ance

(ˈgri vəns)

n.

1. a wrong considered as grounds for complaint.

2. a complaint or resentment, as against an unjust act.

3. Obs. the act of inflicting a wrong.

[1250–1300; < Old French]

Grievance

ax to grind A private or selfish motive, a personal stake; a grievance or complaint, especially a chronic one. The phrase stems from an 1810 story by Charles Miner in which a gullible boy is duped by a flattering stranger into turning a grindstone for him. According to the Dictionary of Americanisms, the frequent but erroneous ascription of the phrase’s origin to Benjamin Franklin is due to confusion between Poor Richard’s Almanac and Essays from the Desk of Poor Robert the Scribe, the collection in which the story appeared.

a bone to pick A complaint or grievance; a point of disagreement or a difference to settle. Formerly, the expression have a bone to pick meant to be occupied, as a dog is with a bone. It was used in this sense as early as 1565. The similar French phrase uses a different metaphor, une maille à partir ‘a knot to pick.’

a chip on one’s shoulder See BELLIGERENCE.

grumble in the gizzard To complain or grouse, to be dissatisfied or annoyed. In this British expression, which dates from the late 17th century, gizzard ‘a bird’s stomach’ is applied jocularly to a human being’s throat or craw.

I was going home, grumbling in the gizzard. (Thomas Flloyd, Gueul-Jette’s Tartarian Tales, translated 1764)

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun	1.	grievance - a resentment strong enough to justify retaliation; "holding a grudge"; "settling a score" grudge, score bitterness, rancor, rancour, resentment, gall - a feeling of deep and bitter anger and ill-will
	2.	grievance - an allegation that something imposes an illegal obligation or denies some legal right or causes injustice allegation - (law) a formal accusation against somebody (often in a court of law); "an allegation of malpractice"
	3.	grievance - a complaint about a (real or imaginary) wrong that causes resentment and is grounds for action complaint - an expression of grievance or resentment

grievance

noun

1. complaint, protest, beef (slang), gripe (informal), axe to grind, chip on your shoulder (informal) They felt they had a legitimate grievance.

2. injustice, wrong, injury a deep sense of grievance

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

grievance

noun

An expression of dissatisfaction or a circumstance regarded as a cause for such expression:

complaint.

Informal: gripe, grouse.

Slang: beef, kick.

Idiom: bone to pick.

Translations

مَظْلَمَه، شَكْوى

důvod ke stížnosti

klagepunkt

umkvörtunarefni

sūdzība

grunn til klage klage

dôvod na sťažnosť

şikâyet nedeni

不满的原由冤情

grievance

[ˈgriːvəns]

A. N (= complaint) → queja f; (= cause for complaint) → motivo m de queja; [of workers] → reivindicación f
to have a grievance against sb → tener queja de algn

B. CPD grievance procedure N → sistema m de trámite de quejas

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

grievance

[ˈgriːv^əns] n

(= feeling) → doléance f, grief m
to harbour a grievance → garder rancune

(= cause for complaint) → grief m
She has a genuine grievance → Ses griefs sont justifiés.

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

grievance

n → Klage f; (= resentment) → Groll m; grievance procedure → Beschwerdeweg m; I’ve no grievance against him (= no cause for complaint) → ich habe an ihm nichts auszusetzen; (= no resentment) → ich nehme ihm nichts übel; to have a grievance against somebody for something → jdm etw übel nehmen; to air one’s grievances → seine Beschwerden vorbringen, sich offen beschweren, sich beklagen

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

grievance

[ˈgriːv/əns] n (complaint) → lagnanza, rimostranza; (cause for complaint) → motivo di risentimento

grievance

(ˈgriːvəns) noun

a cause or reason for complaint. a list of grievances.

grievance

n. queja; agravio.

References in classic literature ?

A most sensible grievance of those aggrieved times were the Forest Laws.

View in context

Though she never mentioned the change, for she did not take any conscious notice of it, it affected her nevertheless: she became more confidential with him; she took her little grievances to him, and she always had some grievance against the manageress of the shop, one of her fellow waitresses, or her aunt; she was talkative enough now, and though she never said anything that was not trivial Philip was never tired of listening to her.

View in context

His career had not come up to his expectations, and although he was a very fine, white-whiskered, mahogany-colored old man to look at, and had laid down a very choice cellar of good reading and good stories, you could not long remain ignorant of the fact that some thunder-storm had soured them; he had a grievance. This grievance dated back to the middle years of the last century, when, owing to some official intrigue, his merits had been passed over in a disgraceful manner in favor of another, his junior.

View in context

'I told you, the last time you were here with a grievance, that you had better turn about and come out of that.

View in context

What was needed was a sense of justice and a sympathy with European affairs, but a remote sympathy not dulled by petty interests; a moral superiority over those sovereigns of the day who co-operated with him; a mild and attractive personality; and a personal grievance against Napoleon.

View in context

For three days the old man had brooded over his grievance, seeking for some means to be revenged upon the King for the insult which Henry had put upon him.

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She imagined herself, in an exasperating future, as a scrawny woman with an eternal grievance. Too, she thought Pete to be a very fastidious person concerning the appearance of women.

View in context

Neither of them gave full utterance to their sense of grievance, but they considered each other in the wrong, and tried on every pretext to prove this to one another.

View in context

Everybody had a narrative and a grievance, and none were reasonable about it, but all in an offensive and ungovernable state.

View in context

Had it taken place only once a year, it would have been a grievance.

View in context

To oblige the great body of the yeomanry, and of the other classes of the citizens, to be under arms for the purpose of going through military exercises and evolutions, as often as might be necessary to acquire the degree of perfection which would entitle them to the character of a well-regulated militia, would be a real grievance to the people, and a serious public inconvenience and loss.

View in context

Men often bear little grievances with less courage than they do large misfortunes.