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
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.
Rueful about their recent run, the Bryans engaged in plenty of soul-searching after a wrenching defeat, in which they had the momentum before a rain delay in the third set.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 6, 2016
Tops in the Rueful Britannia class was a 1965 Wolseley Hornet, which raked in a box of tea, warm beer and a can of spotted dick.
From Reuters • Aug. 22, 2016
One was a proud, polite horse chosen to carry Feodor Chaliapin, chivalric Knight of the Rueful Countenance.
From Time Magazine Archive
Rueful British insurance men who had taken a large part of the Europa's underwriting, paid $4,500,000.
From Time Magazine Archive
Then noble Rueful, like Ares himself, struck his flawless head-piece made of four pots—he only among the Frogs showed prowess in the throng.
From Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, and Homerica by Evelyn-White, Hugh G. (Hugh Gerard)
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.
