begrieve

B3E1G2R1I1E1V4E1

verb

To grieve over or about.

Scrabble 14

Meanings

verbbegrieve (third-person singular simple present begrieves, present participle begrieving, simple past and past participle begrieved)

present singular third person begrieves · participle present begrieving · participle past begrieved · past begrieved

  1. 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 Dust
    4 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, 1650-1700

    The 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 61

    Synonyms: bewail, lament, afterthink, becry, bemoan, bemourn, bewail, beweep

  2. 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 229

    Synonyms: begloom, deject, aggrieve, attrist, begloom, besorrow, grieve, pain

Synonyms & antonyms

Origin

From be- (“around, about, over”) + grieve.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

begrieve. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/begrieve

MLA

“begrieve.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/begrieve. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “begrieve,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/begrieve.

Source: begrieve on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.