rueful

[roo-fuh l]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR rueful ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

causing sorrow or pity; pitiable; deplorable: a rueful plight.

feeling, showing, or expressing sorrow or pity; mournful; doleful: the rueful look on her face.

Nearby words

Origin of rueful

First recorded in 1175–1225, rueful is from the Middle English word reowful. See rue¹, -ful

Related forms

rue·ful·ly, adverbrue·ful·ness, nounhalf-rue·ful, adjectivehalf-rue·ful·ly, adverb

un·rue·ful, adjectiveun·rue·ful·ly, adverbun·rue·ful·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for rueful

Rueful laughter from both men turned to thoughtfulness in Stittsworth.
The Strange, True Tale of the Old-Timey Goat Testicle-Implanting 'Governor'|Penny Lane|September 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
You can only ever see it from an outsider and comment on it with the rueful wisdom of a non participant.
Benedict Cumberbatch’s Revealing Reddit AMA: On Julian Assange’s Letter and Fame|Marlow Stern|October 11, 2013|DAILY BEAST
A discussion of a London cheese shop sends her into paroxysms of rueful joy.
Michelle Forbes' Good Grief|Jace Lacob|May 22, 2011|DAILY BEAST
But most of them must be delivered from on the peninsula, where Bob is standing, casting a rueful eye on the whole show.
On the Peninsula|Bryan Curtis|April 25, 2011|DAILY BEAST

“You can pick which lines can come out,” Spitzer said with a rueful smile.
Eliot Spitzer's Comeback Trail|Lloyd Grove|May 10, 2010|DAILY BEAST
The muscles of the woman's face twisted it into a rueful smile.
The Dawn of a To-morrow|Frances Hodgson Burnett
Hilbrough acquiesced with a rueful sense that he should be clumsy enough at entertaining a foreigner and a man of title.
The Faith Doctor|Edward Eggleston
Benjamin looked down again at his plate, with a rueful resignation which told me that I had carried my point.
The Law and the Lady|Wilkie Collins
The comment was dragged from Jeannette in a tone as unconsciously reluctant as his was rueful.
Golden Stories|Various
He rose to his feet and paid his bill with a rueful conviction that he had fought not wisely, though so well.
The Mayor of Warwick|Herbert M. Hopkins

British Dictionary definitions for rueful

rueful

adjective

feeling or expressing sorrow or repentancea rueful face

inspiring sorrow or pity

Derived Formsruefully, adverbruefulness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for rueful

rueful

adj.

early 13c., rewfulle, reowfule, from rue (n.2) + -ful. Related: Ruefulness.

rueful

adjective

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of rueful

Examples from the Web for rueful

rueful

adjective

rueful