What does grieved mean?
Grieved is the past tense and past participle of grieve and can also function as an adjective. It describes a person who is experiencing deep sorrow, usually because of a significant loss or disappointment. The word appears in formal and emotional contexts, including messages of condolence: “We are deeply grieved by the news.” When used as a verb, it refers to the experience of mourning or feeling grief, as in “The family grieved the death of its founder.” Although grieved is closely related to sad, it generally suggests a more profound or enduring sorrow. Its association with bereavement and loss makes it especially appropriate for describing a response to death, separation, tragedy, or similarly serious events. The word is understood in both British and American English and belongs to the familiar family of grief, grieve, grievous, and grievance.
Feeling or characterized by deep sorrow, especially because of a significant loss.
"She was grieved by the sudden death of her closest friend."
Often used predicatively, especially in the phrase “deeply grieved.”
The past tense and past participle of grieve: to feel or express sorrow, especially in response to a loss.
"They grieved the loss of their longtime neighbor."
The verb is normally intransitive in modern usage, with a preposition such as “for” or “over” indicating the cause or object of the grief.
Grieved is grief in its completed form: the sorrow has happened, and the person is carrying what followed.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does grieved come from?
Grieved was formed by adding the English suffix -ed to grieve. Grieve comes from Old French grever, meaning “to make heavy” or “to mourn,” and ultimately from Latin gravare, related to gravis, “heavy.” The same broad sense of heaviness or sorrow developed in related English words such as grief, grievance, and grievous.
Related word forms
How grieved is actually used
Grieved is formal in tone and often describes sorrow caused by a serious loss, such as a death, a separation, or a disappointing event. It is especially common in expressions of condolence, as in “deeply grieved.”
Easily confused with grieved
Grieved is the past tense and past participle of grieve, whereas grieving is the present participle and describes an ongoing process of sorrow.