bereavement

noun be·reave·ment \bi-ˈrēv-mənt, bē-\

: the state of being sad because a family member or friend has recently died

: the death of a family member or friend

Full Definition of BEREAVEMENT

: the state or fact of being bereaved or deprived of something or someone : the state or fact of being bereaved; especially : the loss of a loved one by death

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Examples of BEREAVEMENT

The following May, my wife and I flew to London for my father's funeral. Pam, determined to wangle us an upgrade to business class on the strength of my bereavement, gave the British Airways ticketing clerk two passports and a sob story. —John Haney, Gourmet, January 2003
In the sections of her book that should prove an enduring contribution to the literature of grief, Ms. Gilbert recounts her free fall into widowhood, starting with that modern rite of bereavement, the erasing of the answering-machine message. —James S. Kunen, New York Times Book Review, 19 Mar. 1995
In any case, sadness and loss of interest and drive during periods of bereavement are expected and normal. If Mozart had not been upset by his parents' deaths, his wife's illnesses, and his separations from her, he would be less than human. —William A. Frosch, Musical Quarterly, 1990
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