GRIEVING Synonyms: 181 Similar and Opposite Words

grieving 1 of 3

adjective

as in weeping

expressing or suggesting mourning the grieving sobs of the widow could be heard throughout the funeral service

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

grieving

2 of 3

noun

as in mourning

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Dissimilar Words

grieving

3 of 3

verb

present participle of grieve

as in aching

to feel deep sadness or mental pain we all grieved over the lost cat

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of grieving

Noun

Or that most people know him only as a grieving spouse, and he was elected out of sympathy? — Mark Leibovich, The Atlantic, 20 July 2026 This horrendous act leads a grieving but determined Ruthye to Kara Zor-El, dead set on exacting revenge for the killings and using our Supergirl to help get her to the culprit. — Pete Hammond, Deadline, 24 June 2026 Sallie West has since opened her front door to the grieving. — Karen Valby, Vanity Fair, 16 June 2026 Traumatized into silence, the de facto orphan stays living with the kindly but guilt-ridden, grieving and impecunious Hiroshi. — Jessica Kiang, Variety, 12 June 2026 The grieving in the sense of mourning and crying and all that might stop, but the pain is going to be there. — Roxana Popescu, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 May 2026 Is this part of a process of grieving or one of denial? — Cressida Leyshon, New Yorker, 12 Apr. 2026 The search for answers is one step in a long grieving process. — Jaclyn Cosgrove, Los Angeles Times, 9 Apr. 2026 Hughes remembered as a spiritual leader While there have been public honors for Hughes – his smiling yearbook photo was displayed on the scoreboard overlooking the football field – much of the grieving in this community of about 200,000 people is playing out in private. — Andy Rose, CNN Money, 14 Mar. 2026

Verb

Heartbreak hit the Flowers family again when Da'J's grieving mother was killed over the summer. — Lauren Victory, CBS News, 18 Sep. 2026 Narrating the extraordinary life of an ordinary man also helped heal the grieving heart of its author. — Denise Crosby, Chicago Tribune, 18 Sep. 2026 Waking up and grieving the dream of more kids felt close to that same level of devastation. — As Told To Ayren Jackson-Cannady, Glamour, 18 Sep. 2026 That's the premise of 2024's effective Don't Move, which stars Kelsey Asbille as a grieving mother out for a walk in a state park. — K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 18 Sep. 2026 Numerous milestones, from Peart studying with jazz player Freddie Gruber and reinventing his playing style to writing Ghost Rider, a memoir about riding motorcycles and grieving the loss of his wife and daughter, are dotted along the way. — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 17 Sep. 2026 The rain beats down incessantly, Lamb’s personal habits have not improved, and poor Cartwright is grieving someone close to him. — The Week Uk, TheWeek, 17 Sep. 2026 The Marine’s father had already told the courtroom full of grieving families allabout his son, Lance Cpl. — Katie Mettler, Washington Post, 16 Sep. 2026 Again, as a teenager trying to figure everything out, my family's grieving, lost my father. — Dana Taylor, USA Today, 15 Sep. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for grieving

Adjective

And every day, across from them, outside the clinic, about to enter or just leaving, there were women hugging each other and weeping.

— David Mamet, National Review, 11 Aug. 2022
The show manages to stay on the brink — always laughing, never quite weeping — for its entire length.

— Helen Shaw, Vulture, 8 Dec. 2021

Definition of weeping

Noun

Love of Your Life transforms into a mourning vacation, as Maya leaves her new family behind to drink, eat and f*ck her way through years of her life, doing telehealth to pay the bills.

— Jourdain Searles, HollywoodReporter, 14 Sep. 2026
Pavlohrad, a city in central Ukraine, observed an official day of mourning Friday for five residents killed near shopping malls in broad daylight by Russian drones the previous day.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 12 Sep. 2026

Definition of mourning

Verb

The aching reality of life for oppressed Black people is never explicitly referred to.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 10 Sep. 2026
Japanese arthouse favorite Hirokazu Koreeda returns to his wheelhouse to marvelous effect with Look Back, an aching drama about growing up and making art, featuring a pair of stunning performances from child actors.

— Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 7 Sep. 2026

Definition of aching

Adjective

To Diana, who has taken over First Desk at the Park after last season’s events, River’s refusal to take bereavement leave gives her license to speak about his grandfather’s funeral arrangements with her usual cool formality.

— Scott Tobias, Vulture, 16 Sep. 2026
According to the organizer of a fundraiser set up to cover funeral costs and medical expenses, the girl's aunt suffered a broken neck, skull fracture, and dislocated discs.

— Joan Murray, CBS News, 14 Sep. 2026

Definition of funeral

Noun

The first witch trial in Ireland took place in Kilkenny in 1324, but people who were suspected as sources of suffering have been murdered since prehistory.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 18 Sep. 2026
It has been used multiple times since then, within and outside of Alabama, drawing scrutiny and criticism from some who have argued the method is poorly understood and likely causes unnecessary suffering.

— CBS News, CBS News, 17 Sep. 2026

Definition of suffering

Verb

By the 11th game of the third set, Keys was hitting herself in the head with her racket, taking her cap off and sighing deep breaths that were either meant to steady her or out of exasperation.

— Ava Wallace, New York Times, 5 Sep. 2026
The soundtrack—by the frequent Hans Zimmer collaborator David Fleming—is a delight, a polyphonic mood board of ghost-clangs, spooky bassoons, lyrical electro-motifs, and sighing sea themes.

— James Parker, The Atlantic, 20 July 2026

Definition of sighing

Noun

Scott’s face, in this shot, is a whole novel, disintegrating into tears before being shored up again, eventually rearranged into something resembling a welcoming smile that teeters on the edge of collapse.

— Alison Willmore, Vulture, 15 Sep. 2026
The strip measures how much the eye produces tears over about five minutes.

— Julie Scott, Verywell Health, 15 Sep. 2026

Definition of tears

Cite this Entry

Style

“Grieving.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/grieving. Accessed 22 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of grieving

adjective

noun

verb

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