1
as in bereaved
suffering the death of a loved one
to one investigator, the bereft woman seemed to be taking the sudden death of her rich husband amazingly well
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2
as in devoid
utterly lacking in something needed, wanted, or expected
a cheap motel completely bereft of all amenities
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Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of bereft
In her 2012 documentary—filmed more than 40 years after his death—Ethel looked as bereft as ever when the subject of his assassination was brought up.
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Kathy Ehrich Dowd, TIME, 10 Oct. 2024
When Pat dies suddenly, a bereft Angie finds herself in a situation that puts her at odds with Shing’s family, whose handling of their grief begins to look a lot like callous discrimination.
—Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 27 Sep. 2024
What of parents left bereft and children left without parents?
—Dan Rodricks, Baltimore Sun, 13 June 2024
Margaret thinks of her Filipina nanny Essie (Ruby Ruiz) as family while Hilary, bereft over fertility issues and browbeaten by her mother, comes to see housekeeper Puri (Amelyn Pardenilla) as her only friend.
—Hugh Hart, Los Angeles Times, 11 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for bereft 
Kathy Ehrich Dowd, TIME, 10 Oct. 2024
When Pat dies suddenly, a bereft Angie finds herself in a situation that puts her at odds with Shing’s family, whose handling of their grief begins to look a lot like callous discrimination.
—Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 27 Sep. 2024
What of parents left bereft and children left without parents?
—Dan Rodricks, Baltimore Sun, 13 June 2024
Margaret thinks of her Filipina nanny Essie (Ruby Ruiz) as family while Hilary, bereft over fertility issues and browbeaten by her mother, comes to see housekeeper Puri (Amelyn Pardenilla) as her only friend.
—Hugh Hart, Los Angeles Times, 11 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for bereft
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bereft
Adjective
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When World War II ended and the horrors of the Holocaust began to emerge, the focus was on the human cost, and seeking justice, retribution and answers for the survivors and bereaved families.Lianne Kolirin, CNN, 11 Dec. 2024
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To a bereaved mom, that just means everything to me.Bryan West, USA TODAY, 5 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Delle, devoid for so long from its intrinsic need for social interaction might be filling in the gaps by talking to himself.Mack DeGeurin, Popular Science, 14 Feb. 2023
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The medication has hallucinogenic effects that alter the perception of sight and sound and cause users to feel devoid from pain and out of control of their surroundings.Jay Stahl, USA TODAY, 28 Oct. 2023
Adjective
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And every day, across from them, outside the clinic, about to enter or just leaving, there were women hugging each other and weeping.David Mamet, National Review, 11 Aug. 2022
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The show manages to stay on the brink — always laughing, never quite weeping — for its entire length.Helen Shaw, Vulture, 8 Dec. 2021
Adjective
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Some artists and publishers are unhappy with the way their content is being scraped freely by companies like OpenAI and Google to train their large language models — AI models trained on huge quantities of data to generate humanlike responses.Ryan Browne, CNBC, 17 Dec. 2024
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Cronin — who had to cancel some summer shows this year due to unspecified health issues — further acknowledges that there’s acrimony between he and Hall, and he’s been unhappy with some of the social media discourse blaming him for the end of the REO Speedwagon name.Gary Graff, Billboard, 16 Dec. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near bereft
Cite this Entry
“Bereft.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bereft. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.
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