Standard Lemma guide

gravitas

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /ˈɡɹævɪtɑs/
  • General-American: /ˈɡɹɑvɪtɑs/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈɡɹæv.ɪ.tɑːs/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈɡɹæv.ɪ.tæs/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: G R AE1 V AH0 T AH0 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Seriousness in bearing or manner; dignity.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Substance, weight.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

formality in bearing and appearance

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • he behaved with great dignity

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: dignity, lordliness

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: bearing, comportment, presence, mien

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gwreh2- Proto-Indo-European *-us Proto-Indo-European *gwréh2us Proto-Italic *gwraus Latin gravis Proto-Indo-European *-teh2 Proto-Indo-European *-ts Proto-Indo-European *-teh2ts Proto-Italic *-tāts Latin -tās Latin gravitāsbor. English gravitas Borrowed from Latin gravitās (“weight, heaviness”). Doublet of gravity.

Across languages

Translations

8 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • German: Bedeutung — seriousness
  • German: Gewichtigkeit — seriousness
  • German: Würde — seriousness
  • German: Würdehaftigkeit — seriousness
  • German: Gravität — seriousness
  • Italian: sussiego — seriousness
  • Polish: powaga — seriousness
  • Turkish: ciddiyet — seriousness