Grievance

Podcast 1 · Introduction

Grievance

A documentary-style narration: origin, meaning, and feel.

Part of speech

noun

Pronunciation

GREE-vunss  /ˈɡriːv(ə)ns/

Definition

A real or imagined wrong or cause for complaint, especially one that is regarded as justifying protest or resentment; a formal complaint made by an employee about working conditions or treatment.

Plain meaning

A grievance is a complaint about something you feel is unjust — either a personal feeling of being wronged or a formal complaint made in a workplace or legal process.

Register

Serious in its formal sense — a grievance procedure, a grievance hearing. Slightly elevated in everyday use compared to complaint. In political discourse, grievances are the foundation of political mobilisation — identifying and articulating shared grievances is how political movements are built.