Table of Contents
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
Syllabification: grief
Audio Pronunciation
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
- Aging and Social Gerontology Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Death and Dying Research Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Word origin of “grief” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
Related Terms
- geriatrics
- gerontology
- gerotranscendence
- hospice
- life expectancy
- primary aging
- senescence
- social gerontology
- thanatology
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 January 16, 2025 (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 January 16, 2025. https://sociologydictionary.org/grief/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“grief.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 16 Jan. 2025. <https://sociologydictionary.org/grief/>.