grief

[greef] /grif/
noun
1.
keen mental suffering or distress over affliction or loss; sharp sorrow; painful regret.
2.
a cause or occasion of keen distress or sorrow.
Idioms
3.
come to grief, to suffer disappointment, misfortune, or other trouble; fail:
Their marriage came to grief after only two years.
4.
good grief, (used as an exclamation of dismay, surprise, or relief):
Good grief, it's started to rain again!
Origin
1175-1225; Middle English gref, grief < Anglo-French gref; see grieve
Related forms
griefless, adjective
grieflessness, noun
Synonyms
1. anguish, heartache, woe, misery; sadness, melancholy, moroseness. See sorrow.
Antonyms
1. joy.
British Dictionary definitions for good grief

grief

/ɡriːf/
noun
1.
deep or intense sorrow or distress, esp at the death of someone
2.
something that causes keen distress or suffering
3.
(informal) trouble or annoyance: people were giving me grief for leaving ten minutes early
4.
(informal) come to grief, to end unsuccessfully or disastrously
5.
tune someone grief, See tune (sense 17)
Derived Forms
griefless, adjective
Word Origin
C13: from Anglo-French gref, from grever to grieve1
Word Origin and History for good grief

grief

n.

early 13c., "hardship, suffering, pain, bodily affliction," from Old French grief "wrong, grievance, injustice, misfortune, calamity" (13c.), from grever "afflict, burden, oppress," from Latin gravare "to cause grief, make heavy," from gravis "weighty" (see grave (adj.)). Meaning "mental pain, sorrow" is from c.1300.

good grief in Medicine

grief (grēf)
n.
Deep mental anguish, as that arising from bereavement.

Slang definitions & phrases for good grief

grief

noun

Complaints; faultfinding; reprimand: I don't want no grief from the fourteenth floor (1929+)

Related Terms

give someone grief


Idioms and Phrases with good grief

good grief

An exclamation expressing surprise, alarm, dismay, or some other, usually negative emotion. For example, Good grief! You're not going to start all over again, or Good grief! He's dropped the cake. The term is a euphemism for “good God.” [ Early 1900s ]

grief

see: