Meanings
present singular third person begrieves · participle present begrieving · participle past begrieved · past begrieved
- archaicraretransitiveTo grieve over or about.
[…] and the nine hundred and ninety-nine out of the second who do begrieve Lucas's shameful condition and would improve it […]
1930, William Faulkner, Intruder in the Dust4 more examples
He also marvels at a hoard of holy relics, begrieving the lack of care shown by their new keepers. Near Namur on the Meuse he describes a hermits' lodge carved in stone with the internal movable contrivance representing the Passion.
1989, Sven-Olof Lindquist, Birgitta Radhe, Economy and Culture in the Baltic, 1650-1700The logical inconsistency of "begrieving" a shameful condition, while postponing its abolition is the fundamental fault Baldwin finds with Faulkner's racial politics and white southern liberalism generally.
1989, Cedric Gael Bryant, Race, Gender, and Metaphor in Five Major Novels by William Faulkner"There lies Jack Spratt; alas, he could eat no more fat. And beside him his fat wife who used to lick the platter clean. Ah, it begrieves me to see them here."
2000, Lewis Burke Frumkes, Metapunctuation: When a Comma Isn't Enough, page 128[…] a whisper is the spectacle of ache is apparatus in this all worn libido stricken fixer : obligate bleeder begrieving that regal population before nothing CONSTRUCT inhales reservations we has PLACE […]
2009, Kathryn L. Pringle, Right New Biology, page 61Synonyms: bewail, lament, afterthink, becry, bemoan, bemourn, bewail, beweep
- archaicraretransitiveTo cause grief or grieving.
It was begrieving to see how the intrusion of even a smattering of pride and moral standards could impede on what had always been a carefree, shiftless life.
1996, Cameron Judd, Passage to Natchez, page 229Synonyms: begloom, deject, aggrieve, attrist, begloom, besorrow, grieve, pain
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo grieve over or about.
verbTo cause grief or grieving.
Origin
From be- (“around, about, over”) + grieve.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
begrieve. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/begrieve
“begrieve.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/begrieve. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “begrieve,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/begrieve.
Source: begrieve on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.