grief

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grief

(grēf)

a. Deep mental anguish, as that arising from bereavement, or an instance of this. See Synonyms at regret.

b. A source or cause of deep mental anguish: "That knowledge would be a grief to her" (Tobias Wolff).

a. Annoyance or frustration, or an instance of this: Trying to follow their directions was nothing but grief.

b. Trouble or difficulty, or an instance of this: the griefs of trying to meet a deadline.

c. Informal Criticism or rude talk: gave me a lot of grief about being late.

3. Archaic A grievance.

[Middle English, from Old French, from grever, to harm, aggrieve; see grieve.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

grief

(ɡriːf)

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. come to grief informal to end unsuccessfully or disastrously

5. tune someone grief See tune¹⁷

[C13: from Anglo-French gref, from grever to grieve¹]

ˈgriefless adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

grief

(grif)

n.

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

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

3. Informal. trouble; difficulty; annoyance: Don't let his silly remark give you grief.

Idioms:

1. come to grief, to suffer misfortune.

2. good grief, (used as an exclamation of dismay, surprise, or relief): Good grief, it's started to rain again!

[1175–1225; Middle English gref, grief < Anglo-French gref; see grieve]

Grief

See Also: SADNESS

The eye, like a shattered mirror, multiplies the images of sorrow —Edgar Allen Poe
Grief as constant as a cloud of black flies —James Crumley
Grief deep as life or thought —Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Grief floats off, spreading out thin like oil —Elizabeth Bishop
Grief had flown away like a sparrow —Jean Stafford
Grief holds him like a corset —Anon
Grief is like a mine shaft, narrow and deep —Kenzaburo Oë
Grief is to man as certain as the grave —George Crabbe
Griefless as a rich man’s funeral —Sidney Dobell
Grief … like a mallard with clipped wings circles me summer and winter, settled for life in my lie’s reedy lake —Denise Levertov The simile comes from the closing lines of Levertov’s poem, Visitant.
Grief rolled across the space between us like a wash of salt water —Sue Grafton
Grief sat on his chest like a dragon —Norman Garbo
Griefs … pain me like a lingering disease —John Milton
I felt as if my chest were banded, like a barrel, with iron straps of sorrow —John Hersey
Man sheds his grief as his skin sheds rain —Ralph Waldo Emerson
Mourning had lain thick in the room, like dust —Belva Plain
Mourn sore like doves —The Holy Bible/Isaiah
The news of his death [Byron’s] came down upon my heart like a mass of lead —Thomas Carlyle
Our sorrows are like thunder clouds, which seem black in the distance, but grow lighter as they approach —Jean Paul Richter
Pure and complete sorrow is as impossible as pure and complete joy —Leo Tolstoy
She had borne about with her for years like an arrow sticking in her heart the grief, the anguish —Virginia Woolf
She wore her grief like a string of pearls —Anon
Sorrow as true as bread —E. E. Cummings
Sorrow is a kind of rust of the soul, which every new idea contributes in its passage to scour away —Samuel Johnson, The Rambler, August 28, 1750
Sorrows are like tall angels with star-crowns in their hair —Margery Eldredge Howell
Sorrows blurred around their edges, like a careless woman’s lipstick —Jean Thompson
Sorrows, like rain, makes roses and mud —Austin O’Malley
Sorrow was like the wind. It came in gusts —Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
The stains of her grief became her as raindrops to the beaten rose —Edith Wharton
There are peaks of anguish in life which establish themselves as peerless, like sharp ridges above a range —Davis Grubb
Woman’s grief is like a summer storm, short as it is violent —Joanna Bailie
See Also: MEN AND WOMEN
Wore his broken heart like a mourning band —Lael Tucker Wertenbaker

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	grief - intense sorrow caused by loss of a loved one (especially by death) brokenheartedness, heartache, heartbreak sorrow - an emotion of great sadness associated with loss or bereavement; "he tried to express his sorrow at her loss" dolor, dolour - (poetry) painful grief
	2.	grief - something that causes great unhappiness; "her death was a great grief to John" sorrow negative stimulus - a stimulus with undesirable consequences

grief

noun sadness, suffering, pain, regret, distress, misery, agony, mourning, sorrow, woe, anguish, remorse, bereavement, heartache, heartbreak, mournfulness Their grief soon gave way to anger.
sadness delight, comfort, joy, cheer, happiness, consolation, rejoicing, solace, gladness

come to grief (Informal) fail, founder, break down, come unstuck, miscarry, fall flat on your face, meet with disaster So many marriages have come to grief over lack of money.

Quotations
"Grief is a species of idleness" [Dr. Johnson letter to Mrs Thrale]

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

grief

noun

Mental anguish or pain caused by loss or despair:

heartache, heartbreak, sorrow.

Translations

أَسىًكآبَه، حُزْن، غَم

smutekžalzármutek

sorg

Gram Kummer Leid Trauer Harm

θλίψη

dolor aflicción pesar sentimiento duelo

suru

chagrin peine désolation deuil grief

žalost

sorg, harmur

dolore pena afflizione andare in malora

深い悲しみ

슬픔

apimtas sielvartopakliūti į bėdą

bēdasnelaimeskumjas

žalost

sorg

ความเศร้าโศก

büyük acııstırap keder

nỗi đau

悲伤悲痛

grief

[griːf] N

1. (= sorrow) → pena f, dolor m
to come to grief → fracasar, ir al traste

2. (= cause of sorrow) → tristeza f

3. (Brit) (= trouble) to give sb grief → dar problemas a algn, dar la vara a algn

4. (as exclamation) good grief! → ¡demonio!

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

grief

[ˈgriːf] n

(= sorrow) → chagrin m, douleur f
good grief! → mon Dieu!, grands dieux!

to come to grief [plan] → échouergrief-stricken [ˈgriːfstrɪkən] adj → effondré(e), accablé(e) de chagrin

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

grief

n → Leid nt, → Kummer m, → Gram m (geh); (because of loss) → große Trauer, Schmerz m, → Gram m (geh); to cause grief to somebody → jdn zutiefst betrüben; (death, loss also) → jdm großen Schmerz bereiten; (failure, sb’s behaviour also) → jdm großen Kummer bereiten; to come to grief → Schaden erleiden; (= be hurt, damaged) → zu Schaden kommen; (= fail) → scheitern

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

grief

[griːf] n (sorrow) → dolore m; (cause of sorrow) → dolore, pena
to come to grief (plan) → naufragare (person) → finire male
good grief! (fam) → mio Dio!

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

grief

(griːf) noun

great sorrow or unhappiness. She was filled with grief at the news of her sister's death.

ˈgrief-stricken adjective

overcome by very great grief. the grief-stricken widow.

come to grief

to meet disaster; to fail. The project came to grief.

grief

→ أَسىً zármutek sorg Kummer θλίψη duelo suru peine žalost dolore 深い悲しみ 슬픔 verdriet sorg smutek pesar горе sorg ความเศร้าโศก keder nỗi đau 悲痛

grief

n. pesar, aflicción;

___ reaction → reacciόn de aflicción.

grief

n duelo, dolor m emocional por una pérdida, (due to death) luto; The five stages of grief in the Kübler-Ross model are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance..Las cinco etapas del duelo en el modelo de Kübler-Ross son la negación, ira, negociación, depresión y aceptación.

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References in classic literature ?

His face, composed of red and white, like that of the Madonna of Vandyke, was furrowed by two silver rivulets which had dug their beds in his cheeks, as full formerly as they had become flabby since his grief began.

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His countenance sufficiently showed the consternation he was under, which, indeed, had a good deal deprived him of speech; but as grief operates variously on different minds, so the same apprehension which depressed his voice, elevated that of Mrs Blifil.

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For my own part, I begin to love him as a brother, and his constant and deep grief fills me with sympathy and compassion.

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I would be fair and stately, with a bright star to shine And give a queenly air to this crimson robe of mine." And proudly she cried, "These fire-flies shall be My jewels, since the stars can never come to me." Just then a tiny dew-drop that hung o'er the dell On the breast of the bud like a soft star fell; But impatiently she flung it away from her leaf, And it fell on her mother like a tear of grief, While she folded to her breast, with wilful pride, A glittering fire-fly that hung by her side.

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Though not weeping, the mother, poor woman, looked broken with grief. After all, to have one burden the less on their shoulders may prove a relief, though there are still two children left--a babe at the breast and a little girl of six!

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"You'll never get well like that," she would say, forgetting her grief in her vexation, "if you won't obey the doctor and take your medicine at the right time!

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thy truest type of grief Is the gently falling leafThou!

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How if Rosa allowed the right moment for planting the bulb to pass by, -- if, in addition to the grief of seeing her no more, he should have to deplore the misfortune of seeing his tulip fail on account of its having been planted too late, or of its not having been planted at all!

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A few men, the least impressed of all by the scene, pronounced a discourse, some deploring this premature death, others expatiating on the grief of the father, and one very ingenious person quoting the fact that Valentine had solicited pardon of her father for criminals on whom the arm of justice was ready to fall -- until at length they exhausted their stores of metaphor and mournful speeches.

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Throughout the day, except in her occasional outbursts of wailing grief, she had been in incessant movement, performing the initial duties to her dead with the awe and exactitude that belong to religious rites.

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Each silent worshipper seemed purposely sitting apart from the other, as if each silent grief were insular and incommunicable.

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Yea, more than equally, thought Ahab; since both the ancestry and posterity of Grief go further than the ancestry and posterity of Joy.