affected by unhappiness or grief; sorrowful or mournful.
to feel sad because a close friend has moved away.
expressive of or characterized by sorrow.
sad looks;
a sad song.
causing sorrow.
a sad disappointment;
sad news.
(of color) somber, dark, or dull; drab.
deplorably bad; sorry.
a sad attempt.
Obsolete. firm or steadfast.
feeling sorrow; unhappy
causing, suggestive, or expressive of such feelings
a sad story
unfortunate; unsatisfactory; shabby; deplorable
her clothes were in a sad state
informal ludicrously contemptible; pathetic
he's a sad, boring little wimp
(of pastry, cakes, etc) not having risen fully; heavy
(of a colour) lacking brightness; dull or dark
archaic serious; grave
First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English sæd “grave, heavy, weary,” originally “sated, full”; cognate with German satt, Gothic saths “full, satisfied”; akin to Latin satis “enough,” satur “sated,” Greek hádēn “enough.” See satiate, saturate
From Arabic
When you're sad, you feel unhappy. If you've ever experienced the death of a pet you loved deeply, you know exactly what it means to feel sad. You might use the adjective sad informally to describe something that's pathetic or that you feel scornful or disdainful about. For example, you might comment on your friend's elaborate homemade hat by saying, "That hat is just sad," though it wouldn't be very nice of you to say it. The term "sad sack" became popular during World War II and has been used ever since to refer to an incompetent, slightly pitiful person.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“Thank you guys for being here, and I really hope you love ‘You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love’ as much as I do.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 15, 2026
But one look at the title – You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love – suggests paradise wasn't what it seemed.
From BBC • Jun. 10, 2026
Tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered in central Belgrade Saturday to renew calls for early elections that grew out of the anti-corruption movement sparked by the 2024 Nov Sad rail station disaster.
From Barron's • May 23, 2026
“I am counting down the days till I get to sing all of the songs from ‘You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love’ with u guys,” Rodrigo wrote.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 30, 2026
To Duane, a melted iceberg would unquestionably fall under the Sad Things category.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
