bereft
adjective
be·reft
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Definition of bereft
1a
: deprived or robbed of the possession or use of something
—usually used with of both players are instantly bereft of their poise— A. E. Wier
b
: lacking something needed, wanted, or expected
—used with of the book is … completely bereft of an index — The Times Literary Supplement (London)
2
: suffering the death of a loved one : bereaved
a bereft mother
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Examples of bereft in a Sentence
She finds the child's mother, alone, who has apparently gone into the woods just to cry. The bereft mother is played by Julianne Moore.
— Stanley Kauffmann, New Republic, 31 Jan. 2000
… made the tabloids when his wife ran off to France with her dentist and the bereft realtor placed a newspaper ad for a girl to adopt to keep him company.
— Neal Gabler, Life: The Movie, 1998
It's not that the country was completely bereft of humor.
— Joseph Contrevas, Newsweek, 6 June 1994
to one investigator, the bereft woman seemed to be taking the sudden death of her rich husband amazingly well
a cheap motel completely bereft of all amenities
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Recent Examples on the Web
Of course, many of us are bereft of space for bonfires. — Amy Drew Thompson, orlandosentinel.com, "National S’mores Day is Aug. 10: Here’s where to get toasted," 8 Aug. 2019 One Vindicator journalist told me it would be telling to have a show of hands at the mournful community meeting: How many of the bereft were actual subscribers? — Margaret Sullivan, Washington Post, "‘Democracy . . . is about to die in Youngstown’ with closing of the local newspaper," 7 July 2019 The Phillies aren’t completely bereft of options, though McCuthen’s injury adds a jolt of instability as the division race heats up. — Michael Shapiro, SI.com, "Forget Harper and Machado. Yankees Scored With Free-Agent Bet on DJ LeMahieu," 26 June 2019 My book manuscript was due to my editor in less than a year, but marshaling my despondent, wildly bereft thoughts for the purposes of creative work seemed a hurdle too elephantine to overcome. — Rachel Vorona Cote, SELF, "Why I Embraced Skin Care After My Mother's Death," 18 Apr. 2019 When two eighteen-year-old girls go missing on their gap year in Thailand, their families are thrust into the international spotlight: desperate, bereft and frantic with worry. . — Rachel Epstein, Marie Claire, "#ReadWithMC Reviews Fiona Barton's 'The Suspect'," 4 Mar. 2019 But the race to replace high-profile Kobach as the state’s top elections official is relatively quiet and bereft of television ads. — John Hanna, The Seattle Times, "Kobach legacy on voter ID laws at issue in other Kansas race," 8 Oct. 2018 Meanwhile, outside the shelter network, along the country's southern border, lawyers working on behalf of bereft parents struggle to locate their clients' children. — Maria Sacchetti, chicagotribune.com, "'It really wears on the kids': Separated migrant children are all over the country," 24 June 2018 Meanwhile, outside the shelter network, along the country's southern border, lawyers working on behalf of bereft parents struggle to locate their clients' children. — Maria Sacchetti, chicagotribune.com, "'It really wears on the kids': Separated migrant children are all over the country," 24 June 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'bereft.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for bereft
bereft
adjective
English Language Learners Definition of bereft
: sad because a family member or friend has died
See the full definition for bereft in the English Language Learners Dictionary
bereft
adjective
be·reft
| \ bi-ˈreft
\
\
Kids Definition of bereft
1
: not having something needed, wanted, or expected
They passed miles of naked grapevines … bereft of their leaves.— Pam Muñoz Ryan, Esperanza Rising
2
: bereaved
a bereft mother
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