Bereavement

//bɪˈriːvmənt// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The state of being bereaved; deprivation; especially the loss of a relative by death. countable, uncountable

    "1864 November 21, Abraham Lincoln (signed) or John Hay, letter to Mrs. Bixby in Boston I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost"

  2. 2
    state of sorrow over the death or departure of a loved one wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
abridgmentagonyanguishcostcurtailmentdamage

Example

More examples

"I'm taking bereavement leave on Jan. 30 and 31."

Etymology

From bereave + -ment.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.