GRIEF • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Grief

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noun

Grief n.

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. "The mother was so afflicted at the loss of a fine boy,... that she died for grief of it."

Cause of sorrow or pain; that which afficts or distresses; trial; grievance. "Be factious for redress of all these griefs."

Physical pain, or a cause of it; malady. (R.) "This grief (cancerous ulcers) hastened the end of that famous mathematician, Mr. Harriot."

To come to grief, to meet with calamity, accident, defeat, ruin, etc., causing grief; to turn out badly. (Colloq.)

Synonyms: Affiction; sorrow; distress; sadness; trial; grievance. 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." See Affliction.

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Etymology of 'Grief'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Grief" Quotes from Famous Books

... there was a cough, then the blood was corrupted, and the urine became yellow. The number of deaths at this time was truly terrible. The Chief Vakaki Ahmak died, and we ourselves were plunged in great darkness and great grief, our fathers and ancestors having contracted ...

— The Annals of the Cakchiquels • Daniel G. Brinton

... reversion to extreme youthfulness rather staggered me. In fact it brought a cold chill of suspicion into existence. Grown-up men do not, as a rule, fly off the head unless confronted by some prodigious emotion, such as terror, grief or guilt. And yet here was I going into a perfect rampage of rapture over a simple, unconventional communication from a lady whom I had known for less than a month and for whom I had no real feeling of sympathy whatever. The chill of suspicion ...

— A Fool and His Money • George Barr McCutcheon

... she sobbed, regardless of his presence, with the utter abandon of a child. Like a child, too, she wept rebelliously, unchastenedly, as he could not have believed it possible for a grown person to cry. Such grief as this, so absolute a despair, had nothing to do with reason or the reasoning faculties; and the words were not invented that would be ...

— Maurice Guest • Henry Handel Richardson

... from my first attack, that I should not survive it. My breath cannot last long.' The doctor pressed his hand, but could not utter a word. He retired from the bedside and sat by the fire, absorbed in grief. ...

— Life And Times Of Washington, Volume 2 • John Frederick Schroeder and Benson John Lossing

... the steps, she was humming the air which Alan had just whistled, as she planned about the gown she would wear when she went to see the cousins, and pictured to herself the details of their first meeting. It was all so like Polly, to be in the depths of grief at one moment, and to be singing the next. Her sorrows were just as sincere as Molly's, while they lasted, but the very intensity of them made it impossible for them to continue long at a time. Polly's ...

— Half a Dozen Girls • Anna Chapin Ray

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