grievance
/ˈɡɹiː.vəns/noun
grievance is spelled G-R-I-E-V-A-N-C-E: 9 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 23,835th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, grievance means “Something which causes grief” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of grievance is grievances.
How many letters and syllables are in grievance?
| Letters | 9: G-R-I-E-V-A-N-C-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.4 times per million words; the 23,835th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is grievance?
Grievance appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 23,835th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce grievance?
- /ˈɡɹiː.vəns/
Grievance has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-grievance.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of grievance
- grievances plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does grievance mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Something which causes grief.
- 2
A wrong or hardship suffered, which is the grounds of a complaint.
November 2 2014, Daniel Taylor, "Sergio Agüero strike wins derby for Manchester City against 10-man United," guardian.co.uk Wayne Rooney spent much of the game remonstrating with Oliver about his own grievances and, in the interest of balan
- 3
Feelings of being wronged; outrage; resentment, bitterness or anger.
- 4
A complaint or annoyance.
- 5
A formal complaint, especially in the context of a unionized workplace.
If you want the problem fixed, you'll have to file a grievance with the city.
- 6
Violation of regulations or objectionable behavior.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Grievance in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Ärgernis, Missstand, Mißstand, Übelstand, Kümmernis , Kränkung |
| Spanish | transgresión, motivo de queja, agravio , queja |
| French | grief |
| Portuguese | queixa, reclamação , agravo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does grievance come from?
From Old French grievance, from the verb grever (“to irritate; to bother; to annoy”) + -ance, equivalent to grieve + -ance.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).