Grievances are diplomatic penalties that you accumulate through hostile acts or by acting against the wishes of the other civilizations in the game. Each civilization keeps track of its Grievances with each other civilization, and takes them into account when deciding how favorably to view other civilizations and their diplomatic options. When another civilization has high Grievances against you, cities they founded are less loyal to you, they are less likely to act favorably toward you, and third-party civilizations may consider you a warmonger if you continue to grieve other civilizations.

Most Grievances are generated in one large sum as the result of a single action, but possessing enemy cities generates a certain amount every turn. During times of peace between civilizations, their Grievances tend toward zero turn by turn. Grievances decay quickly in early Eras, but the rate of decay slows as the Eras advance.

Grievances are most often generated when declaring war or capturing enemy cities. Using a Casus Belli will mitigate some of the Grievances generated by your actions during the war. Denouncing a civilization will generate Grievances against you. Eliminating a city-state generates Grievances against you from all other civilizations that have met that city-state. If you ignore or deny a Request from another civilization, the other civilization gets Grievances against you; however, if you Promise to follow a Request and then break your promise, that will generate even higher levels of Grievances.

In addition, you will generate Grievances with third parties that have a relationship with the civilization that is angry with you. For example, if you do something that gives America Grievances against you, and America has an Alliance with England, then you will also generate a percentage of those Grievances with England.