sadness

American  

[sad-nis] / ˈsæd nɪs /

noun

1. the quality or state of being sad; sorrow.

   It’s frustrating to know the sadness you’re feeling and not be able to help you.

2. an instance of sorrow.

   How can you be so unaware of the sadnesses these children have experienced?

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Etymology

Origin of sadness

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English sadnesse; sad ( def. ) + -ness ( def. )

Explanation

Someone who's blue feels sadness, like a little girl whose best friend has moved away. Use the noun sadness when you're talking about sorrow. Sadness may be the overwhelming mood at a funeral, for example, or an elderly man might describe his life's greatest sadness as letting his childhood sweetheart get away. An interesting thing about sadness is that its original meaning was "seriousness." It wasn't until the 1600s that it came to mean "full of sorrow."

Example Sentences

Speaking to the BBC in 2024, the Summertime Sadness hitmaker revealed she wrote her song 24, from her fourth album Honeymoon, for a film about the world's most famous spy.

From BBC • Apr. 16, 2026

Sadness is often the primary emotion in a breakup song.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 19, 2024

Sadness, rebelliousness and a puckish sense of humor are there in her eyes.

From New York Times • Aug. 3, 2023

Sadness, regret, guilt, and longing are primary feelings in grief that follow death from expected, or natural causes.

From Slate • Jun. 4, 2023

Sadness turns our features to clay, not porcelain.

From "Every Day" by David Levithan

Related Words

• anguish
• grief
• heartache
• heartbreak
• hopelessness
• melancholy
• misery
• mourning
• poignancy
• sorrow