rueful
Americanadjective
-
causing sorrow or pity; pitiable; deplorable.
a rueful plight.
-
feeling, showing, or expressing sorrow, repentance, or regret.
the rueful look on her face.
adjective
-
feeling or expressing sorrow or repentance
a rueful face
-
inspiring sorrow or pity
Other Word Forms
- half-rueful adjective
- ruefully adverb
- ruefulness noun
- unrueful adjective
- unruefulness noun
Etymology
Origin of rueful
First recorded in 1175–1225, rueful is from the Middle English word reowful; see rue 1, -ful
Explanation
If your elaborate magic trick goes awry, and instead of pulling a rabbit out of an audience member's shoe, you set the shoe on fire, you might give a rueful smile. Rueful means "apologetic" or "remorseful." The adjective rueful sincerely expresses regret, but it manages to do it with a hint of humor. Rueful shows up a lot in descriptions of remorseful grins or apologetic smiles. If you're sorry about something you've done but you can still laugh at yourself a little bit, you feel rueful. The word itself comes from the verb to rue, which means "to regret."
Vocabulary lists containing rueful
List 1
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Tuck Everlasting
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"The Odyssey" by Homer, Books 8–13
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"In one day," he says, with a rueful smile.
From BBC • Feb. 3, 2026
Their catch-up turns into a rueful airing out of long-simmering resentments in a way that shakes Jay to his core, confirming some of his own worst suspicions about himself.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 14, 2025
The remark carries a delicate wisp of rueful irony.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 2, 2025
While he enjoys the craftmanship, he admits with a rueful smile that he has still not learned to play the piano himself.
From BBC • Aug. 25, 2025
Well, thought Mother with a rueful smile, at least Amadeus looked like his old self then.
From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer
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.
