The expression “coffee break” was first attested in 1952 in glossy magazine advertisements by the Pan-American Coffee Bureau.
BEREFT
bereaved, bereft, grief-stricken, grieving, mourning, sorrowing
(adjective) sorrowful through loss or deprivation; “bereft of hope”
bereft, lovelorn, unbeloved
(adjective) unhappy in love; suffering from unrequited love
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Verb
bereft
simple past tense and past participle of bereave
Adjective
bereft (not comparable)
(of a person) Pained by the loss of someone.
Deprived of, lacking, stripped of, robbed of.
Source: Wiktionary
Be*reft", imp. & p. p.
Definition: of Bereave.
BEREAVE
Be*reave" (, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bereaved (, Bereft (; p. pr. & vb. n. Bereaving.] Etym: [OE. bireven, AS. bereáfian. See Be-, and Reave.]
1. To make destitute; to deprive; to strip; -- with of before the person or thing taken away. Madam, you have bereft me of all words. Shak. Bereft of him who taught me how to sing. Tickell.
2. To take away from. [Obs.] All your interest in those territories Is utterly bereft you; all is lost. Shak.
3. To take away. [Obs.] Shall move you to bereave my life. Marlowe.
Note: The imp. and past pple. form bereaved is not used in reference to immaterial objects. We say bereaved or bereft by death of a relative, bereft of hope and strength.
Syn.
– To dispossess; to divest.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
31 March 2025
IMPROVISED
(adjective) done or made using whatever is available; “crossed the river on improvised bridges”; “the survivors used jury-rigged fishing gear”; “the rock served as a makeshift hammer”
Coffee Trivia
