grief
n. C / Un. the deep sadness you feel when someone you love dies or when you lose something very important.
n. intense sorrow or mental distress caused by loss, particularly the death of a loved one.
She felt a deep sense of grief after her dog died.
The community came together to share their collective grief after the local library burned down.
Psychologists often describe the process of working through grief as a non-linear journey where various emotional stages overlap and recur over time.
From Middle English greef, gref, from Old French grief (“grave, heavy, grievous, sad”), from Latin gravis (“heavy, grievous, sad”). Doublet of grave.
Uncountable when referring to the general emotion; countable when referring to a specific instance or cause of sorrow.
He felt many griefsHe felt much griefWhen describing the emotional state, the word is typically uncountable and should not be pluralized.