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grief

Definition of Grief

(noun) The emotional, psychological, and social response to misfortune or loss.

Example of Grief

  • An individual mourning the death of a loved one.

Grief Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: grief

Audio Pronunciation

– American English
– British English

Phonetic Spelling

  • American English – /grEEf/
  • British English – /grEEf/

International Phonetic Alphabet

  • American English – /ɡrif/
  • British English – /ɡriːf/

Usage Notes

  • Also informally called:
    • brokenheartedness
    • heartache
    • heartbreak
    • sadness
    • sorrow
  • An individual experiencing grief is a (noun) griever who (verbs) grieves.

Additional Information

Related Terms


Works Consulted

Griffiths, Heather, Nathan Keirns, Eric Strayer, Susan Cody-Rydzewski, Gail Scaramuzzo, Tommy Sadler, Sally Vyain, Jeff Bry, Faye Jones. 2016. Introduction to Sociology 2e. Houston, TX: OpenStax.

Merriam-Webster. (N.d.) Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/).

Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).

Random House Webster’s College Dictionary. 1997. New York: Random House.

Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wiktionary, The Free Dictionary. Wikimedia Foundation. (http://en.wiktionary.org).

Cite the Definition of Grief

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “grief.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved March 29, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/grief/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

grief. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/grief/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “grief.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed March 29, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/grief/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“grief.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/grief/>.