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# gravely

«gravely» in Mova's school dictionary: **In a very serious way, showing that something is…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

adverb (gravely)

### meaning for a pupil

1) In a very serious way, showing that something is important or worrying. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gravely/#m1)

2) Very badly: gravely ill, gravely injured. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gravely/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In stories «gravely» describes a serious voice or face: «the doctor nodded gravely». In news it means very badly hurt or very dangerously ill. Phrases: «gravely ill», «gravely concerned», «spoke gravely».

### examples

- «This is very important,» said the headteacher gravely. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gravely/#x1)
- The soldier was gravely wounded. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gravely/#x2)
- Grandad was gravely ill but he got better. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gravely/#x3)
- She shook her head gravely. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gravely/#x4)
- The police are gravely concerned about the missing boy. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gravely/#x5)
- “It was Dorothy,” said the Lion gravely. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gravely/#x6)

### note

From «grave» (serious). Not related to graves in a churchyard in meaning, though spelled the same. Do not confuse with «gravelly» (rough, like gravel: a gravelly voice).

### In the corpora

- [Badger «nodded gravely at intervals as the animals told their story», and did not seem surprised or shocked at anything.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/37-willows-ch4-part1-mr-badger/23/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «gravely» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gravely/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.