doleful

[ dohl-fuhl ]

adjective

1. sorrowful; mournful; melancholy:

   a doleful look on her face.

doleful

/ ˈdəʊlfʊl /

adjective

1. dreary; mournful Archaic worddolesomeˈdəʊlsəm

Derived Forms

• ˈdolefully, adverb
• ˈdolefulness, noun

Other Words From

• doleful·ly adverb
• doleful·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of doleful¹

First recorded in 1225–75, doleful is from the Middle English word dol-ful. See dole ², -ful

Example Sentences

They were a little wet and doleful looking, but llamas were bred to withstand the brutal weather of the Andes.

From Outside Online

Fox News called him a “doleful hound,” while the Washington Post preferred the less stylized, “slightly befuddled-looking.”

From The Daily Beast

There is an even more doleful cultural signifier in all this: the mess that invariably follows the big announcement.

From The Daily Beast

Hollande basically tried to remain above the fray and reinforced his already doleful image as an ineffectual executive.

From The Daily Beast

Their garb lent them either the gravitas the Republican bench has previously lacked, or the doleful aspect of ushers at a funeral.

From The Daily Beast

But the business of most of them that fared this way whose faring has been preserved was of a very doleful character.

From Project Gutenberg

When his disciple had finished the solemn and doleful phrase, he smiled while looking round.

From Project Gutenberg

Some of the animals suffered so with thirst that they could not graze, and uttered doleful whinneys of distress.

From Project Gutenberg

Perhaps it was this doleful, ominous sound more than anything else that somehow took the enthusiasm out of them.

From Project Gutenberg

And no wonder, for of all the doleful too-tooings ever uttered by wind instrument, this was the dolefullest.

From Project Gutenberg