Synonyms of grief
77 similar words
Another word for grief is smart. Other synonyms of grief are pain, ill-being, hardship, depression and distress.
Synonyms and similar words for grief
nounSuffering, hardship.
- difficulty
- troubleThe state of being troubled, disturbed, or distressed mentally; unease, disquiet.
- anguishExtreme pain, either of body or mind; excruciating distress; an emotional state caused by intense misery or suffering.
- rendA violent separation of parts.
- distressA cause of such discomfort.
- hardshipDifficulty or trouble; hard times.
- painThe condition or fact of suffering or anguish especially mental, as opposed to pleasure; torment; distress.
- smartMental pain or suffering; grief; affliction.
- tormentAny extreme pain, anguish or misery, either physical or mental.
- tortureSevere pain or anguish, of mind or body.
nounEmotional pain, generally arising from misfortune, significant personal loss, bereavement...
- dejectionA state of melancholy or depression; low spirits, the blues.
- miseryGreat unhappiness; extreme pain of body or mind; wretchedness; distress; woe.
- bluenessMelancholy.
- tristesse literarySadness.
- mirthlessLacking mirth; devoid of joy; sad.
- bluesA feeling of sadness or depression.
- crestfallennessThe quality of being crestfallen.
- depressionA state of mind producing serious, long-term lowering of enjoyment of life or inability to visualize a happy future...
- despondencyA feeling of depression or disheartenment.
- dolefulnessThe characteristic of being doleful; sadness.
- downheartednessThe characteristic of being downhearted; sadness.
- forlornnessThe state or characteristic of being forlorn; sadness; loneliness.
- ill-beingThe state of being ill, unhealthy, or unhappy; misery; miserableness.
- infelicity
- melancholiaDeep sadness or gloom; melancholy.
- melancholyGreat sadness or depression, especially of a thoughtful or introspective nature.
- mourn literarySorrow, grief.
- sadnessAn event in one's life that causes sadness.
- sorrowUnhappiness, woe.
- sorrowfulnessThe quality or state of sorrow; sadness.
- tristfulnessSadness; sorrow; melancholy.
- undelightThe condition or feeling of lacking delight; unhappiness or displeasure.
- unhappinessThe feeling of not being happy.
- woeGreat sadness or distress; a misfortune causing such sadness.
- woefareDiscontentment; sorrow; unhappiness.
- wretchednessAn unhappy state of mental or physical suffering.
- drearihead obsoleteSadness; dreariness.
- heartsore rareHeartache, misery, grief.
- mishappiness obsoleteUnhappiness; wretchedness; misery.
- prosternation obsoleteDejection; depression.
- regret obsolete
- rue archaic, dialectalSorrow; repentance; regret.
- ruth obsoleteMatter for regret or sorrow; calamity, ruin; also, occasion for regret or sorrow; (countable) an instance of this; a...
nounA cause or instance of sorrow or pain; that which afflicts or distresses; a trial.
- affliction
- aggrievanceOppression; hardship; grievance.
- grievanceSomething which causes grief.
- vexationA source of mental distress or trouble; an affliction, a woe; also, a source of annoyance or irritation; an annoyance...
- wrongAn instance of wronging someone (sometimes with possessive to indicate the wrongdoer).
verbTo deliberately harass and annoy or cause grief to other players of a game in order to interfere...
- badgerTo pester; to annoy persistently; to press.
- bait
- bedevil
- beleaguer
- persecute
- dog
- bullyragTo harass, badger, taunt, or abuse verbally.
- besiege
- bug
- devil informal
- beset figuratively
- chevy figuratively
- give someone grief
- harass
- harry
- hound
- pester
- pick at
- plague
- afflict
- lacerate
- aggrieve
- atray dialectalTo vex; trouble; frighten; torment; harass.
- cag dialectal, slang
- harrow
- vex
- wring figuratively
- engrieve archaicTo cause grief to, to vex or pain; to associate with vexation or pain.
- grame obsolete
Meaning of grief
- noun Suffering, hardship.
- noun Emotional pain, generally arising from misfortune, significant personal loss, bereavement, misconduct of oneself or others, etc.; sorrow; sadness.
- noun A cause or instance of sorrow or pain; that which afflicts or distresses; a trial.
grief in other languages
Questions about synonyms of grief
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: grief (page history and authors) and the entries of the words listed. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws grouped the synonyms and antonyms by meaning and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “Synonyms of grief.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/synonyms/grief. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.