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(of a person) greatly saddened at being deprived by death of a loved one.
a bereaved person or persons (usually preceded by the):
to extend condolences to the bereaved.
to deprive and make desolate, especially by death (usually followed by of):
Illness bereaved them of their mother.
to deprive ruthlessly or by force (usually followed by of):
The war bereaved them of their home.
Obsolete. to take away by violence.
Contemporary Examples

And while the bereaved person may wish to be dead, the depressed person may attempt suicide, and some succeed.
Bereavement Doesn’t Equal Depression, and It’s No Disease for the DSM T. Byram Karasu January 26, 2012

Why not chat over a plate of humus with members of bereaved Families for Peace and Combatants for Peace?
An Alternative Travel Itinerary for Mitt Romney Emily L. Hauser July 12, 2012

Later the first couple worked the rope line, hugging and kissing the bereaved.
Mourner-in-Chief’s Eulogy Puts Palin to Shame Lloyd Grove January 12, 2011

This is an excellent book for the bereaved and for the un-bereaved who walk beside them.
Book Bag: Reading Your Way Out Of Grief Anna Whiston-Donaldson October 15, 2014

These short daily devotions help the bereaved feel less alone.
Book Bag: Reading Your Way Out Of Grief Anna Whiston-Donaldson October 15, 2014

Historical Examples

The bereaved poet knows and reflects on many things at the very instant he is suffering the shock of his loss.
The Literature of Ecstasy Albert Mordell

And the lady blessed Evelyn, and felt that, if bereaved, she was not alone.
Alice, or The Mysteries, Complete Edward Bulwer-Lytton

What a comfort that tail was to Sancho, none but a bereaved bow-wow could ever tell.
St. Nicholas Magazine for Boys and Girls, Vol. 5, September 1878, No. 11 Various

Therefore, like a bereaved mother, she only gave herself the more to her father.
Salted With Fire George MacDonald

In her song we see no trace of depression, like that of a bereaved and desolate mother.
The Expositor’s Bible: The First Book of Samuel W. G. Blaikie

adjective
having been deprived of something or someone valued, esp through death
verb (transitive)
(usually foll by of) to deprive (of) something or someone valued, esp through death
(obsolete) to remove by force
v.

Old English bereafian “to deprive of, take away, seize, rob,” from be + reafian “rob, plunder,” from Proto-Germanic *raubojanan, from PIE *reup- “to snatch” (see rapid). A common Germanic formation (cf. Old Frisian birava “despoil,” Old Saxon biroban, Dutch berooven, Old High German biroubon, German berauben, Gothic biraubon). Since mid-17c., mostly in reference to life, hope, loved ones, and other immaterial possessions. Past tense forms bereaved and bereft have co-existed since 14c., now slightly differentiated in meaning, the former applied to loss of loved ones, the latter to circumstances.