bereave
verb
be·reave bi-ˈrēv 
bē-
bereaved or bereft bi-ˈreft
bē-
; bereaving transitive verb
1
: to deprive of something —usually used with of
Madam, you have bereft me of all words …
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare2
: to take away (a valued or necessary possession) especially by force
Synonyms
- abate
- deprive
- divest
- strip
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
news of a death in the family bereaved them of the unmitigated joy that normally prevails at a wedding
Word History
Etymology
Middle English bereven, from Old English berēafian, from be- + rēafian to rob — more at reave
First Known Use
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
bereaves
verb
as in deprives
to take something away from news of a death in the family bereaved them of the unmitigated joy that normally prevails at a wedding Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- deprives
- strips
- denudes
- divests
- abates
- defrauds
- impoverishes
- shortchanges
- bankrupts
- cheats
- disfurnishes
- cleans (out)
- old growth
- old guard
- old guardism
- old guardist
- old guards
- old habits die hard
- old hand
- old hands
- Old Harry
- old hat
- old helio
- Old High German
- old home week
- old house borer
- Old Hunker
- Old Icelandic
- old identity
- old indic
- Old Indo-Aryan
- old injun
- Old Ionic
- Old Iranian
- Old Irish
- old Italian book hand
- old ivory