The Oxford Thesaurus An A-Z Dictionary of Synonyms - grief n.

1) anguish, suffering, agony, misery, wretchedness, pain, hurt, sadness, sorrow, dejection, depression, despondency, melancholy, unhappiness, woe, torment, desolation, heartbreak, remorse, regret, ruth, heartache: Nothing equalled the grief I felt at the death of my dog, Whiffler. 2) distress, trouble, difficulty, tribulation, trial, burden, load, onus, ordeal, travail, affliction, worry, bitterness, curse; adversity, misfortune, evil days, bad or ill fortune or luck, calamity, disaster, catastrophe, trauma: The death of her only child was a lasting grief to Millie. 3) come to grief. fail, go to rack and ruin, meet with disaster, miscarry, fall or come apart, Colloq come unstuck: Our plans for retirement came to grief when my husband went bankrupt.