How to Use bereft in a Sentence

bereft

adjective
  • In death, the sheikh had left him feeling as bereft as an orphan.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 4 July 2021
  • If one fell on the floor in the night, Censori would wake up bereft.
    — Anna Peele, Vanity Fair, 6 Feb. 2026
  • But the task of caring for bereft children is just as daunting.
    — Salwan Georges, Washington Post, 14 Feb. 2023
  • The Paris fashion shows were bereft without her.
    — Hamish Bowles, Vogue, 23 Mar. 2026
  • This is one of those endings that leaves you feeling a little bereft.
    — Stephanie Zacharek, TIME, 22 May 2024
  • Exhausted and bereft, Spencer lies down next to his wife and son.
    — Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 6 Apr. 2025
  • One game would see the team create a plethora of scoring chances, while the next game was bereft of them.
    — Alex Vejar, The Salt Lake Tribune, 10 Nov. 2020
  • When they are ignored, a swath of people can be left bereft or endangered.
    — Maria Fleet, CNN, 4 Sep. 2022
  • The region is nearly bereft of natural fresh streams and rivers.
    — Washington Post, 30 July 2021
  • Without a pole, hook, or tree to climb, squirrels are left defeated and bereft.
    — Stephanie Osmanski, Better Homes & Gardens, 6 July 2026
  • Without a pole, hook, or tree to climb, squirrels are left defeated and bereft.
    — Stephanie Osmanski, Better Homes & Gardens, 7 June 2026
  • Some of the present hyper-scalers may have collapsed and burned, leaving investors bereft.
    — Kamal Ahmed, Fortune, 13 May 2026
  • That does not mean the game wasn’t bereft of Brady’s fourth-quarter legerdemain.
    — Los Angeles Times, 1 Feb. 2022
  • In the Sport's case, basic doesn't mean totally bereft, though.
    — Rich Ceppos, Car and Driver, 15 Mar. 2023
  • The area is bereft of banks or transportation to get to the west side of town, where most of the well-paying jobs are.
    — Lori Teresa Yearwood, The New Republic, 14 Mar. 2022
  • The series is not bereft of soft sexism, but most of it comes from other characters.
    — Gabrielle Bellot, The Atlantic, 8 July 2017
  • Gone are the days when players left academies ill-equipped for a world outside of the game, bruised and bereft.
    — George Caulkin, New York Times, 16 Oct. 2025
  • The South is generally bereft of very top schools, as is most of the West.
    — Richard Vedder, Forbes, 8 Sep. 2021
  • At the time, store shelves across the five boroughs were already bereft of disinfectants.
    — Eve Sneider, Wired, 20 Aug. 2020
  • But Carmen is bereft over her grandmother and best friend, Mar, who has died.
    — Anna Marie De La Fuente, Variety, 18 May 2026
  • Some lots and garages, those that are bereft, that have fallen into the ruin, have the look of cemeteries.
    — Adali Schell, Los Angeles Times, 10 Oct. 2022
  • The very best time to go stargazing in the evenings around a New Moon when the night sky is bereft of moonlight.
    — Jamie Carter, Forbes, 30 Jan. 2022
  • Despite their gifts and alertness to the moment, [these] composers seem muffled, bereft of zeal.
    — Bruce Sterling, WIRED, 2 Sep. 2011
  • The 23-year-old had died suddenly, leaving staff and the public bereft.
    — Meilan Solly, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 Sep. 2023
  • With Desus & Mero dead & buried, Showtime has been bereft of late-night content.
    — Vulture, 21 Sep. 2022
  • The Rockets are simply too young and too bereft of talent to compete at the moment.
    — Michael Shapiro, Chron, 15 Jan. 2023
  • The bread was stiff and underdressed, the batter on the fried shrimp and catfish seemingly bereft of spice.
    — Ligaya Mishan, New York Times, 2 Feb. 2017
  • But for most of the past year, his studio — a chic condo that is also his home — had been bereft of students and their music.
    — Washington Post, 19 May 2021
  • The search was scaled down, and her bereft parents, Carole and Vince, went home to their three boys.
    — Hilary Whiteman, CNN Money, 28 Feb. 2026
  • Then came the news, delivered to Giants fans midgame by a bereft play-by-play announcer.
    — Andrew Golden, Washington Post, 20 June 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bereft.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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