woebegone

[ woh-bi-gawn, -gon ]

adjective

1. beset with woe; affected by woe, especially in appearance.
2. showing or indicating woe:

   He always had a woebegone look on his face.

   Synonyms: gloomy, forlorn, suffering

woebegone

/ ˈwəʊbɪˌɡɒn /

adjective

1. sorrowful or sad in appearance
2. archaic.
   afflicted with woe

Other Words From

• woebe·goneness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of woebegone¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English wo begon originally, “woe (has or had) beset (someone)”; equivalent to wo + begon, past participle of begon, Old English begān “to surround, beset”; woe, be-, go ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of woebegone¹

C14: from a phrase such as me is wo begon woe has beset me

Example Sentences

The woebegone Houston Texans, 20-point underdogs against the unbeaten Arizona Cardinals, had parlayed a safety and a few RBI singles into a 5-0 lead on the road.

From Washington Post

Graterford is a forbidding, shabby, woebegone facility built in 1929.

From The Daily Beast

On this occasion, however, it failed to produce anything more than a woebegone pucker that foreshadowed something worse.

From Project Gutenberg

The girl of the Red Mill heard the speech of the stranger and noted her woebegone accent.

From Project Gutenberg

She was so absorbed that she almost fell over the woebegone little figure on the step.

From Project Gutenberg

He stood before me the most woebegone, heartbroken man I ever saw.

From Project Gutenberg

Although invariably English, they grow pale and woebegone just as easily in London as in Paris.

From Project Gutenberg