grieve
Americanverb (used without object)
verb
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to feel or cause to feel great sorrow or distress, esp at the death of someone
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obsolete (tr) to inflict injury, hardship, or sorrow on
noun
Usage
What does grieve mean? To grieve is to feel or express intense grief—mental or emotional suffering or distress caused by loss or regret. Grieve often means the same thing as mourn. It’s especially used in the context of someone who is mourning the death of a loved one. However, the word can also be used in the context of other situations involving loss or regret, such as the end of a relationship or the loss of a job. Less commonly, grieve can mean to cause someone to feel grief, as in It grieves me to see you so sad. Grieve should not be confused with bereave, which means to take away and leave devastated. Those who are grieving are those who have been bereaved. Example: After losing someone close, it’s important to take the time to grieve.
Synonym Usage
Grieve, mourn imply showing suffering caused by sorrow. Grieve is the stronger word, implying deep mental suffering often endured alone and in silence but revealed by one's aspect: to grieve over the loss (or death ) of a friend. Mourn usually refers to manifesting sorrow outwardly, either with or without sincerity: to mourn publicly and wear black.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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grievernoun
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grievingnoun
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overgrieveverb
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nongrievedadjective
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nongrievingadjective
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ungrievedadjective
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ungrievingadjective
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grievedlyadverb
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grievinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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grievesimple
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grievessimple
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have grievedperfect
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has grievedperfect
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am grievingprogressive
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are grievingprogressive
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is grievingprogressive
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have been grievingperfect progressive
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has been grievingperfect progressive
Past
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grievedsimple
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had grievedperfect
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was grievingprogressive
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were grievingprogressive
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had been grievingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of grieve
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English greven, grieven, from Old French grever, from Latin gravāre “to burden,” verb derivative of gravis “heavy”; see grave 2
Explanation
To grieve is to feel sorrow over something, especially people who have died. The most common use of grieve has to do with death: usually there are grieving family members and grieving friends, feeling sadness over the loss of a loved one. You can also grieve over a pet who died, a job you didn't get, or a favorite pair of shoes that were ruined. Usually there's some kind of loss involved, but as long as you feel extremely sad about something that's happened, you're grieving.
Vocabulary lists containing grieve
Instead of "Said": Words For Sad Speech
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Good Grief!: Grav, Griev
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Bush's Address on 9/11
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Sara and I grieve with the American people over the loss of our dear friend, Senator Lindsey Graham.
From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2026
"I feel like I'm not going to be able to grieve properly."
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
But permit me, as a lifelong MMA fan, to grieve a bit for my favorite sport: the only one I’ve ever truly loved.
From Slate ● Jun. 14, 2026
Soto alleges that under Patsy and Elsy, she was denied adequate time off to grieve after the sudden death of her brother, and was told to “report to work immediately.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026
Making me believe I had no right to grieve, to miss her, to love her, like he did.
From "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson
Madonna grieves for her late brother Christopher on Fragile, a delicate song about their childhood, estrangement and reconciliation, that ends with her wishing, "I hope you found a higher ground".
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
“We are a first-world country, and speaking as a physician that knows this can be prevented, it grieves me,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 22, 2026
What does it look like when a bird grieves?
From Salon ● Nov. 2, 2025
At 19:26 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country grieves alongside the UK at this time.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2025
“Tell him, please, I long to speak with him....Nay, tell him only that Ophelia grieves with him.”
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
He has also grieved his mother Florence who died in December, speaking at her funeral in Nigeria and, by arrangement with the national team, joined up late with his team-mates before the Six Nations.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
At the First Baptist Church, he said, the Eastlands were trying to be respectful as people grieved.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 18, 2026
Having not swam seriously since he was 18, he only got back into the sport after his father's death to "feel connected to him" as he grieved.
From BBC ● Apr. 14, 2026
Transport Minister Matteo Salvini, who is from Milan, said he was "grieved" by the accident and called for answers.
From Barron's ● Feb. 27, 2026
They, too, are grieved and have no answers forme.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
Is her mother’s company really doing this to test out proprietary technology while ostensibly doing a good deed for a grieving parent?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
As for Rogue, she is grieving the loss of Gambit, a.k.a.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
It’s this exact type of cultural disappearance that Kojima was grieving during his weekend comments.
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026
Witnessing your sadness, anger or frustration might actually be helpful to your niece in her own grieving process.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 29, 2026
But she did not seem to understand that we were grieving.
From "How Dare the Sun Rise" by Sandra Uwiringiyimana
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
