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grief

[greef]
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noun
  1. keen mental suffering or distress over affliction or loss; sharp sorrow; painful regret.
  2. a cause or occasion of keen distress or sorrow.
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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!
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Origin of grief

1175–1225; Middle English gref, grief < Anglo-French gref; see grieve
Related formsgrief·less, adjectivegrief·less·ness, noun

Synonyms

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1. anguish, heartache, woe, misery; sadness, melancholy, moroseness. See sorrow.

Antonyms

1. joy.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for come to grief

grief

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 annoyancepeople were giving me grief for leaving ten minutes early
  4. come to grief informal to end unsuccessfully or disastrously
  5. tune someone grief See tune (def. 17)
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Derived Formsgriefless, adjective

Word Origin

C13: from Anglo-French gref, from grever to grieve 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for come to grief

grief

n.

early 13c., "hardship, suffering, pain, bodily affliction," from Old French grief "wrong, grievance, injustice, misfortune, calamity" (13c.), from grever "afflict, burden, oppress," from Latin gravare "to cause grief, make heavy," from gravis "weighty" (see grave (adj.)). Meaning "mental pain, sorrow" is from c.1300.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
come to grief in Medicine

grief

(grēf)
n.
  1. Deep mental anguish, as that arising from bereavement.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.

Idioms and Phrases with come to grief

come to grief

Meet with disaster or failure. For example, The icy runway caused at least one light plane to come to grief. [Mid-1800s]

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grief

see come to grief; good grief.

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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.