rueful
adjective
causing sorrow or pity; pitiable; deplorable.
ruefulness
-
a word derived from
rueful.
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.
But the play’s mixture of ruefulness, bleakness and bittersweet domesticity never becomes gripping, and drama and momentum are in such short supply that you feel you’re living the tedium the title character has embraced.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 13, 2021
Knowing what we do about America’s capacity for forgiveness, or for willful forgetting, we can maybe allow, with some ruefulness, that the restoration of his body was more astonishing, after all.
From The New Yorker ● Jun. 14, 2019
“They changed 95% of it,” Mr. Berney says without ruefulness.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2018
In the title role, the mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke sings with both warmth and a barely concealed backbone of steel, and projects ruefulness and the tiniest touch of humor.
From New York Times ● Nov. 19, 2017
Constance lowered her hands and looked at Reynie with a mixture of ruefulness and irritation.
From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart
