Meanings
- participlepastsimple past and past participle of bereave
bereft of gorm
mindless, being an idiot
1 more example
bereft of strength
powerless
- not comparablePained by the loss of someone.
I was utterly bereft in the months following my wife's death.
1 more example
[Oscar] Pistorius's punishment for killing her [Reeva Steenkamp] that night is but a frippery when set against the burden that her bereft parents, June and Barry, must carry.
2014 October 21, Oliver Brown, “Oscar Pistorius jailed for five years”, in The Daily Telegraph (Sport) - not comparableDeprived of, stripped of, robbed of.
The hosts had not lost in 12 home European games but looked shaky at the back and bereft of attacking ideas, inviting Stoke forward for further opportunities.
2011 November 3, David Ornstein, “Macc Tel-Aviv 1–2 Stoke”, in BBC Sport2 more examples
And there I strove, and there I clove through the drift of icy streams; / And there I fought, and there I sought for the pay-streak of my dreams. // So twenty years, with their hopes and fears and smiles and tears and such, / Went by and left me long bereft of hope of the Midas touch; […]
1909, Robert W[illiam] Service, “The Ballad of One-eyed Mike”, in Ballads of a Cheechako, Toronto, Ont.: William Briggs, →OCLC, stanzas 3–4, page 52This parrot is no more! It has ceased to be! It’s expired and gone to meet its maker! This is a late parrot! It’s a stiff! Bereft of life, it rests in peace! If you hadn’t nailed it to the perch it would be pushing up the daisies!
1969 December 7, Monty Python, “Full Frontal Nudity, Dead Parrot sketch”, in Monty Python's Flying Circus, spoken by Mr Praline (John Cleese)
Synonyms & antonyms
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivesorrowful through loss or deprivation
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishbireft
- Englishbereft
From Middle English bireft, v. Middle English bireven. Synchronically a form of bereaved; compare leave and left.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian лишен, лишен
- лишен (lišen)pained by the loss of someone
- лишен (lišen)deprived of
Czech připravený o co, zbavený čeho
- připravený o copained by the loss of someone
- zbavený čehopained by the loss of someone
- zbavený m čehodeprived of
Finnish sureva, kaipaava
- surevapained by the loss of someone
- kaipaavapained by the loss of someone
- surullinenpained by the loss of someone
- ilmandeprived of
- osatondeprived of
French privé de
- privé dedeprived of
German hinterblieben, beraubt
- hinterbliebenpained by the loss of someone
- beraubtdeprived of
- verlassendeprived of
Icelandic svipta, taka frá
- sviptadeprived of
- taka frádeprived of
Italian deprivato, deprivato
- deprivatopained by the loss of someone
- deprivatodeprived of
- orbatodeprived of
Latin orbus, orbus
- orbuspained by the loss of someone
- orbusdeprived of
Māori tukaunga
- tukaungadeprived of
Polish osamotniony, pozbawiony
- osamotnionypained by the loss of someone
- pozbawionydeprived of
Portuguese destituído, privado
- destituídodeprived of
- privadodeprived of
Russian утративший, лишённый
- утративший (utrativšij)pained by the loss of someone
- лишённый (lišónnyj)pained by the loss of someone
- утративший (utrativšij)deprived of
- лишённый (lišónnyj)deprived of
- ограбленный (ograblennyj)deprived of
Swedish berövad
- berövaddeprived of
Turkish yoksun, mahrum
- yoksundeprived of
- mahrumdeprived of
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with bereft
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
bereft. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bereft
“bereft.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bereft. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bereft,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bereft.
Source: bereft on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.