tearful

American  

[teer-fuhl] / ˈtɪər fəl /

adjective

1. full of tears; weeping.

2. causing tears.

   the tearful story of his poverty.

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tearful British  

/ ˈtɪəfʊl /

adjective

1. about to cry

2. accompanying or indicative of weeping

   a tearful expression

3. tending to produce tears; sad

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Other Word Forms

• half-tearful
  adjective
• half-tearfully
  adverb
• half-tearfulness
  noun
• tearfully
  adverb
• tearfulness
  noun

Etymology

Origin of tearful

First recorded in 1580–90; tear ¹ + -ful

Explanation

Before you break out in a full-fledged cry — when you're wiping your eyes and blowing your nose, you're tearful. If a person is tearful, he or she is full of tears. Most of them haven't flowed, but you can see them in someone's eyes. If you break out in a full-fledged cry, you're no longer tearful, you're weeping. If something is tearful, there are lots of tears involved. Think about the last time you said a tearful goodbye to a good friend, gave your sister a tearful hug, or witnessed a victim's tearful plea for mercy.

Example Sentences

Tearful family members stood outside the charred buildings, many of them clutching photographs of their missing relatives.

From BBC • Oct. 14, 2025

Tearful mourners in Kyiv on Sunday commemorated a British volunteer killed while attempting a rescue mission from the eastern Ukrainian town of Soledar.

From Reuters • Jan. 30, 2023

Tearful families waved goodbye to loved ones at the train station.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 23, 2022

Tearful leave-takings have been occurring daily on the Ukrainian side of the border.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 5, 2022

Tearful, feverish, and scratching, she had to explain to her teacher why “Damp and Spooky: The Depiction of Grottos in Ominous Landscapes” would not be handed in on time.

From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood