How to pronounce grief
Say it like GREEF. Grief is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress.
Click the play button next to American or British to hear how to pronounce grief. Choose Slow to hear each sound clearly.
- GREEF
- Main stress
- Lighter stress
- Unstressed
Grief pronunciation, sound by sound
Read the parts left to right, then blend them together without pausing.
- GREEFSay this part loudest and longest. The vowel is the "ee" in see.
American vs British pronunciation of grief
American and British speakers say grief in essentially the same way: /ɡrif/ in the US and /ɡriːf/ in the UK.
British respelling: GREEF.
What does grief mean?
- intense sorrow caused by loss of a loved one (especially by death)
- something that causes great unhappiness“her death was a great grief to John”
Where does grief come from?
From Middle English greef, gref, from Old French grief (“grave, heavy, grievous, sad”), from Latin gravis (“heavy, grievous, sad”).
Similar and opposite words
Similar meaning
Words that rhyme with grief
Practicing rhymes is a quick way to lock in the vowel sound of grief.
Questions about saying grief
How do you pronounce grief?
Say GREEF. The American pronunciation is /ɡrif/. In British English it is /ɡriːf/. Press play above to hear it at normal speed or slowly.
How many syllables are in grief?
Grief is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress. Broken into parts: GREEF.
Do Americans and Brits say grief the same way?
Almost exactly. The American form is /ɡrif/ and the British form is /ɡriːf/, so you can use either pronunciation with any listener.