bereft
English
WOTD – 11 May 2011
Etymology
From Middle English bireft, v. Middle English bireven. Synchronically a form of bereaved; compare leave and left.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /bəˈɹɛft/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (AU) (file) - Rhymes: -ɛft
Verb
bereft
- simple past tense and past participle of bereave
- bereft of strength ― powerless
- bereft of gorm (Yorkshire dialect) ― mindless one, idiot
Adjective
bereft (not comparable)
- (of a person) Pained by the loss of someone.
- 2014 October 21, Oliver Brown, “Oscar Pistorius jailed for five years”, in The Daily Telegraph (Sport):
- [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.
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- Deprived of, lacking, stripped of, robbed of.
- 1909, Robert W[illiam] Service, “The Ballad of One-eyed Mike”, in Ballads of a Cheechako, Toronto, Ont.: William Briggs, OCLC 2068144, stanzas 3–4, page 52:
- 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; […]
- 1969 December 7, Monty Python, “Full Frontal Nudity, Dead Parrot sketch”, in Monty Python's Flying Circus, spoken by Mr Praline (John Cleese):
- This 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!
- 2011 November 3, David Ornstein, “Macc Tel-Aviv 1–2 Stoke”, in BBC Sport:
- 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.
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Translations
pained by the loss of someone
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deprived of
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