grief

American  

[greef] / grif /

noun

1. keen mental suffering or distress over affliction or loss; sharp sorrow; painful regret.

   Synonyms:

   moroseness, melancholy, sadness, misery, woe, heartache, anguish

   Antonyms:

   joy

2. a cause or occasion of keen distress or sorrow.

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verb (used with or without object)

griefed, griefing

1. Digital Technology.

   1. (in an online video game) to behave in an unsportsmanlike way or take pleasure in antagonizing (other players).

      I reported the jerk who griefed me yesterday—I hope they ban his account.

   2. to exploit a glitch or execute an online prank that ruins a website or other online experience for (users).

      Posting flashing content to an epilepsy site is taking griefing to a malicious and dangerous extreme.

idioms

1. come to grief, to suffer disappointment, misfortune, or other trouble; fail.

   Their marriage came to grief after only two years.

2. good grief, (used as an exclamation of dismay, surprise, or relief ).

   Good grief, it's started to rain again!

grief British  

/ ɡriːf /

noun

1. deep or intense sorrow or distress, esp at the death of someone

2. something that causes keen distress or suffering

3. informal trouble or annoyance

   people were giving me grief for leaving ten minutes early

4. informal to end unsuccessfully or disastrously

5. See tune

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grief More Idioms  

1. see come to grief; good grief.

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Usage

What does grief mean? Grief is mental or emotional suffering or distress caused by loss or regret. It’s especially used to refer to the feeling of sorrow and loss from the death of a loved one. People who are overwhelmed by grief are often described as grief-stricken. This kind of grief is most commonly associated with death, but the word can also be used in the context of other situations involving loss, such as a divorce or the loss of a job. The related verb grieve means to mourn—to feel or express intense grief, especially due to a death or loss. The word grief is also used informally to mean trouble or annoyance, as in Please don’t give your mother any grief when she gets home—her day has been hard enough already. Grief is used in the phrase good grief, which is typically used to express alarm or dismay. Grief is also used in the context of online gaming as a slang term that means something similar to the verb sense of troll—to take pleasure in antagonizing others. Example: I can’t imagine the amount of grief you feel from the loss of your mother.

Synonym Usage

See sorrow.

Other Word Forms

• griefless
  adjective
• grieflessness
  noun

Etymology

Origin of grief

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English gref, grief, from Anglo-French gref; see origin at grieve

Explanation

Grief means intense sorrow. You feel grief if something terribly sad happens, like if your dog dies or if your childhood sweetheart breaks up with you. The word grief comes from the Latin word gravare, which means to make heavy. Gravare itself comes from the Latin word gravis, which means weighty. So think of grief as a heavy, oppressive sadness. We associate it most often with mourning a loved one's death, but it can follow any kind of loss.

Example Sentences

"Grief is brutal. Every day is affected and you have to get through each day. You've got kids who need you. You have to just take it literally one day at a time."

From BBC • May 20, 2026

Grief looks different for everyone but there are common patterns, believes Sadie James, from the Sandy Bear bereavement charity.

From BBC • May 16, 2026

Grief saturates the early pages of Catriona McPherson’s dark mystery “The Dead Room,” in which a young widow leaves her marital home in Hawaii and returns to her native Scotland.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026

Grief layered itself over everything, but we kept the children steady and the house functioning.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026

He would never get these stupid things upstairs with Grief around.

From "Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher" by Bruce Coville

Related Words

• agony
• anguish
• bereavement
• despair
• discomfort
• gloom
• heartache
• heartbreak
• melancholy
• misery
• mourning
• pain
• regret
• remorse
• sadness
• sorrow
• trouble
• unhappiness
• woe
• worry