different between downcast vs grievous

English

Etymology

From Middle English *doun-casten, *adoun-casten (inferred from Middle English adoun-casting (“downcasting”), adoun-cast (“overthrow, destruction”)), modelled similarly to other constructions in Middle English (namely, Middle English adoun-throwen (“to throw down”), adoun-werpen (“to throw down”)), equivalent to down- +? cast.

Pronunciation

• (adjective, noun)
  • (General American) IPA^(key): /?da?nkæst/
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?da?nk??st/
• (verb)
  • (General American) IPA^(key): /da?n?kæst/
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /da?n?k??st/

Adjective

downcast (comparative more downcast, superlative most downcast)

1. (of eyes) Looking downwards.
   • 1717, John Dryden, Canace to Macareus

     'Tis love, said she; and then my downcast eyes, / And guilty dumbness, witness'd my surprise.

2. (of a person) Feeling despondent.

Translations

Noun

downcast (plural downcasts)

1. (computing) A cast from supertype to subtype.
2. (obsolete) A melancholy look.
   • 1619, Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, The Maid's Tragedy

     That downcast of thine eye.

3. (mining) A ventilating shaft down which the air passes in circulating through a mine.

Verb

downcast (third-person singular simple present downcasts, present participle downcasting, simple past and past participle downcast or downcasted)

1. (transitive, obsolete) To cast or throw down; to turn downward.
2. (transitive, Scotland) To taunt; to reproach; to upbraid.
3. (transitive, computing) To cast from supertype to subtype.

   Antonym: upcast

Anagrams

• cast down

English

Alternative forms

• greuous (obsolete)
• grievious, grevious (less common / nonstandard outside dialects)

Etymology

From grieve, from Middle English greven, from Old French grever, from Latin grav? (“I burden”). Developed in the 13th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??i?.v?s/
• Rhymes: -i?v?s
• (nonstandard outside dialects) IPA^(key): /??i?.vi?.?s/ (often used in conjunction with the spelling grievious)

Adjective

grievous (comparative more grievous, superlative most grievous)

1. Causing grief, pain or sorrow.
   • 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island

     As for the captain, his wounds were grievous indeed but not dangerous.

2. Serious, grave, dire or dangerous.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:lamentable

Translations

Anagrams

• grevious