Grief

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Grief \Grief\ (gr[=e]f), n. [OE. grief, gref, OF. grief, gref,
     F. grief, L. gravis heavy; akin to Gr. bary`s, Skr. guru,
     Goth. ka['u]rus. Cf. {Barometer}, {Grave}, a., {Grieve},
     {Gooroo.}]
     1. Pain of mind on account of something in the past; mental
        suffering arising from any cause, as misfortune, loss of


        friends, misconduct of one's self or others, etc.; sorrow;
        sadness.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The mother was so afflicted at the loss of a fine
              boy, . . . that she died for grief of it. --Addison.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Cause of sorrow or pain; that which afficts or distresses;
        trial; grievance.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Be factious for redress of all these griefs. --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. Physical pain, or a cause of it; malady. [R.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
              This grief (cancerous ulcers) hastened the end of
              that famous mathematician, Mr. Harriot. --Wood.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {To come to grief}, to meet with calamity, accident, defeat,
        ruin, etc., causing grief; to turn out badly. [Colloq.]
  
     Syn: Affiction; sorrow; distress; sadness; trial; grievance.
  
     Usage: {Grief}, {Sorrow}, {Sadness}. Sorrow is the generic
            term; grief is sorrow for some definite cause -- one
            which commenced, at least, in the past; sadness is
            applied to a permanent mood of the mind. Sorrow is
            transient in many cases; but the grief of a mother for
            the loss of a favorite child too often turns into
            habitual sadness. "Grief is sometimes considered as
            synonymous with sorrow; and in this case we speak of
            the transports of grief. At other times it expresses
            more silent, deep, and painful affections, such as are
            inspired by domestic calamities, particularly by the
            loss of friends and relatives, or by the distress,
            either of body or mind, experienced by those whom we
            love and value." --Cogan. See {Affliction}.
            [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  grief
       n 1: intense sorrow caused by loss of a loved one (especially by
            death) [syn: {heartache}, {heartbreak}, {brokenheartedness}]
       2: something that causes great unhappiness; "her death was a
          great grief to John" [syn: {sorrow}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  153 Moby Thesaurus words for "grief":
     accident, ache, aching, aching heart, adversity, affliction, agony,
     agony of mind, anguish, apologies, attrition, ayenbite of inwit,
     bale, bemoaning, bewailing, bitterness, bleakness, bleeding heart,
     blow, broken heart, burden, calamity, care, carking care, casualty,
     cataclysm, catastrophe, cheerlessness, collision, come apart,
     come to grief, come unstuck, comfortlessness, contretemps,
     contriteness, contrition, crack-up, cramp, crash, crushing, curse,
     cut, dejection, depression, depth of misery, desolation, despair,
     despondency, difficulty, disaster, discomfort, dismalness,
     distress, distressfulness, dole, dolor, dreariness, extremity,
     fail, grievousness, heartache, heartbreak, heartfelt grief,
     heartgrief, heavy heart, hurt, ill hap, infelicity, injury,
     joylessness, lamentability, lamentation, lamenting, languishment,
     lesion, load, melancholia, melancholy, misadventure, miscarry,
     mischance, misery, misfortune, mishap, mournfulness, nasty blow,
     onus, ordeal, pain, painfulness, pang, passion, pathos, pileup,
     pining, pitiability, pitiableness, pitifulness, poignancy,
     prostration, regret, regretfulness, regrets, regrettableness,
     regretting, remorse, remorse of conscience, remorsefulness,
     repining, rue, ruth, sadness, shame, shamefacedness, shamefastness,
     shamefulness, sharpness, shipwreck, shock, smash, smashup, sore,
     sore spot, sorriness, sorrow, sorrowfulness, sorrowing, spasm,
     staggering blow, stress, stress of life, stroke, suffering,
     suicidal despair, tender spot, throes, torment, tragedy, trauma,
     travail, trial, tribulation, trouble, unhappiness, wistfulness,
     woe, woebegoneness, woefulness, worry, wound, wreck, wrench,
     wretchedness