bereaved
bereaved Lexical Profile
bereaved Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Deprived of a close relation or friend through their death; experiencing grief and mourning after a personal loss.
"The community rallied together to offer meals and emotional support to the bereaved parents."
• noun
A person or group of people who have recently experienced the death of a loved one (usually preceded by 'the').
"The hospital chaplain spent the afternoon offering quiet comfort to the bereaved."
Word Nuance & Usage
While both 'bereaved' and 'bereft' are past participles of 'bereave', 'bereaved' specifically refers to the loss of a loved one through death, whereas 'bereft' is used more generally to mean deprived of something abstract (such as hope or speech).
• Rhymes for bereaved
Word Origin & Etymology
Derived from the Old English verb 'bereafian', meaning 'to deprive of or take away by violence', from the prefix 'be-' and 'reafian' (to rob or plunder).
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.