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

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 Here’s what to know about health anxiety, collective grieving and how to manage those fears. — Rachel Hale, USA Today, 23 Feb. 2026

Verb

The flooding brings back painful memories for the community, as many residents are still grieving the losses caused by last July’s floods, Kerrville Police Chief Jerel Haley said Thursday. — Dalia Faheid, CNN Money, 17 July 2026 Slonim cataloged a mountain of evidence alone, coordinated with the ATF and the Yolo DA, and interviewed suspects and grieving families. — Joe Rubin, Sacbee.com, 17 July 2026 The doctors pay tribute to their Palestinian colleagues, who work marathon shifts, often while grieving personal losses. — The Week Uk, TheWeek, 16 July 2026 The After the Hunt star, 42, stars in the first trailer for director Paul Greengrass‘ The Uprising as Ploughman, a farmer grieving his wife and children’s deaths from the bubonic plague seven years earlier. — Rebecca Aizin, PEOPLE, 16 July 2026 The utility board, in a previous statement, also said the members of the organization are grieving and offered condolences for McKee’s death. — Eric Adler, Kansas City Star, 15 July 2026 During that difficult time, Hialeah turned to the Doral Police Department’s therapy dog, Ginger, for support in comforting grieving family members, friends and coworkers. — Verónica Egui Brito july 15, Miami Herald, 15 July 2026 Her grieving brother, Bobby Gifford, couldn't stand that her body was left out in the elements somewhere, never to be properly laid to rest. — Amanda Lee Myers, USA Today, 15 July 2026 Sixty years later, young Alma Singer begins searching for the writer of her mother’s favorite book, hoping to bring romance to her grieving parent. — The Know, Denver Post, 5 July 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

For the second year in a row, this quiet Hill Country town is digging itself out of a catastrophe that has mercilessly taken a community trying to heal and set them back on the path of mourning.

— Alaa Elassar, CNN Money, 20 July 2026
On Monday, July 13, the Gandesa City Council decreed two days of official mourning, during which the flags of the municipal buildings will fly at half-mast.

— Desiree Anello, PEOPLE, 14 July 2026

Definition of mourning

Verb

His vision of transient living, where violence, desolation and sexuality were expressed through an aching slide guitar, offered a counterpoint to the gospel heard throughout southern Baptist churches.

— Steven Johnson, Washington Post, 14 July 2026
The Hot Stone Massage is the ultimate R&R, using warm volcanic stones to calm and soothe aching muscles in a full-body, 60- or 90-minute massage.

— Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 10 July 2026

Definition of aching

Adjective

When his funeral conflicts with Lonnie’s tee time, The Hawk texts in his eulogy between holes.

— Ben Travers, IndieWire, 16 July 2026
Details about the funeral arrangements for Nolan Wells, the teen who was found dead on July 6 after visiting Horn Island, Mississippi, have been released.

— Meagan Jordan, Rolling Stone, 15 July 2026

Definition of funeral

Verb

The internet may be full of people who want to outlaw leaf blowers, but misophonic triggers tend to share a bodily quality, an aurally traceable culprit such as a person crunching or sighing.

— Sloane Crosley, New Yorker, 8 June 2026
Also, remember that the avatar is reading your body language, eye contact, any kind of sighing or moaning.

— Phil Blair, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 June 2026

Definition of sighing

Adjective

The feud shows no signs of ending, and Kate Middleton is reportedly heartbroken over it.

— Allison DeGrushe, StyleCaster, 18 July 2026
In 2017, administrators at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh were heartbroken to learn that hundreds of rare books, art prints and maps worth more than $8 million had been purloined from its rare books room.

— Marc Ramirez, USA Today, 15 July 2026

Definition of heartbroken

Noun

While relatives looked on in bemusement, my brother and I burst into tears, inconsolable.

— Ishaan Tharoor, New Yorker, 16 July 2026
On Wednesday, Argentina player Lisandro Martínez was asked if the banner could have stirred deep emotions and tears for a veteran of the Malvinas conflict.

— Jill Lawless, Los Angeles Times, 16 July 2026

Definition of tears

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“Grieving.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/grieving. Accessed 21 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of grieving

adjective

noun

verb

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