Grieve

/ɡriːv/

verbmedium📊CommonBusiness
2 meanings3 questions

Definitions

2 meanings
1

To suffer grief; to feel sorrow or mental distress.

/ɡriːv/

verbnegativemedium
Business

To feel or express deep sorrow or regret, especially at the loss of someone or something.

The family grieved the loss of their son.

💡 Simply: Imagine your favorite toy broke. Grieving is feeling really sad and upset because something important is lost or gone.

👶 For kids: When you're super sad because someone you love is gone, you are grieving.

More Examples

2

She is still grieving after her husband's death.

3

They grieved for the passing of their dear friend.

4

It took him a long time to grieve after losing his job.

How It's Used

Personal

"She grieved for her lost pet."

Literary

"The poem describes the way the characters grieve."

Social

"Many people grieve for loved ones at funerals."

2

To cause (someone) grief.

/ɡriːv/

verbnegativeAdvanced
General

To cause someone to feel grief.

His careless remarks grieved her deeply.

💡 Simply: Sometimes, you do something that makes someone else sad or upset. That action 'grieves' them.

👶 For kids: When you do something that makes someone else sad, you are grieving them.

More Examples

2

The news grieved his parents.

3

The scandal grieved the community.

4

The sudden layoffs grieved the employees.

How It's Used

Formal

"His actions grieved the family."

Tip:Imagine a heavy burden – causing grief to someone else is like placing that burden upon them.

Synonyms & Antonyms

From Old French *grever* ('to burden, oppress'), from Latin *gravis* ('heavy, grievous').

Historically, the word 'grieve' has consistently been used to describe feelings of sorrow and suffering, and also to denote actions that cause such feelings in others.

Memory tip

Think of a 'grieving' person as someone burdened by a great weight of sadness.

Word Origin

LanguageLatin
Original meaning

"heavy, grievous"

grieve forgrieve overdeeply grievegrieve the loss ofgrieve the death of

Common misspellings

greavegreeve

Usage

40%Spoken
60%Written