SYNONYMS AND RELATED EXPRESSIONS
bereft
adjective
Left without something needed or valued, often through loss.
Local English device voice, when available. This is not a recorded dictionary pronunciation.
Deprived of something valued
Closest synonyms
Related words and expressions
These extend or explain the idea and may require a different sentence structure.
Usage distinction
Return to topBereft usually takes of and often suggests a painful loss; devoid need not imply that anything was lost.
CHECK THE MEANING IN CONTEXT
See bereft in use
The final chapter seemed bereft of the humor that enlivened the opening.
Bereft of her former colleagues, the remaining mapmaker struggled to find anyone who remembered the small rituals of their working days.
Compare an alternative with the original word in each passage. Shared meanings do not make every pair interchangeable.
Synonym reference scope and sources
The groups distinguish the senses selected for this study entry. Closest synonyms and broader related expressions have separate labels. The listed sources support lexical selection; not every phrase is a direct quotation from a source.
How the synonym reference was prepared / WordNet 3.0 license