sad

[ sad ]

/ sæd /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR sad ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective, sad·der, sad·dest.

affected by unhappiness or grief; sorrowful or mournful: to feel sad because a close friend has moved away.

expressive of or characterized by sorrow: sad looks; a sad song.

causing sorrow: a sad disappointment; sad news.

(of color) somber, dark, or dull; drab.

deplorably bad; sorry: a sad attempt.

Obsolete. firm or steadfast.

Nearby words

Origin of sad

before 1000; Middle English; Old English sæd grave, heavy, weary, orig. sated, full; cognate with German satt, Gothic saths full, satisfied; akin to Latin satis enough, satur sated, Greek hádēn enough. See satiate, saturate

SYNONYMS FOR sad

1. unhappy, despondent, disconsolate, discouraged, gloomy, downcast, downhearted, depressed, dejected, melancholy.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR sad ON THESAURUS.COM

ANTONYMS FOR sad

1. happy.

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Related formssad·ly, adverbsad·ness, noun

sād

[ sahd ]

/ sɑd /

noun

the 14th letter of the Arabic alphabet.

Origin of sād

From Arabic

SAD

seasonal affective disorder.

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

Examples from the Web for sad

Haha, what a sad thing to be great at, but yeah, I guess I am.
Patton Oswalt on Fighting Conservatives With Satire|William O’Connor|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Lady Edith is so sad that her sadness nearly set the whole damned house on fire.
‘Downton Abbey’ Review: A Fire, Some Sex, and Sad, Sad Edith|Kevin Fallon|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The trio formed the Sad Boys collective, with Sherm and Gud on production and Lean manning the mic.
The Cult of Yung Lean: ‘I’m Building An Anarchistic Society From the Ground Up’|Marlow Stern|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The sad fact is that more than 41 percent of trans people admit making at least one suicide attempt in their lifetime.
Dear Leelah, We Will Fight On For You: A Letter to a Dead Trans Teen|Parker Molloy|January 1, 2015|DAILY BEAST

You, dear reader and refusenik, will likely be called a cynic or a sad sack by friends.
The Refuseniks Hiding From ‘Happy New Year’|Lizzie Crocker|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It would be a sad alternative—as both the mule and the dog were looked upon more in the light of companions than slaves.
The Boy Hunters|Captain Mayne Reid
And it might so easily have been the other way—Emil who was ill and Amedee who was sad!
O Pioneers!|Willa Cather
The face usually so sparkling looked very, very pale, and worn, and sad.
The Unseen Bridgegroom|May Agnes Fleming
By noon he had reached the country of the plantations, the great, sad, silent levels bordering the mighty river.
Roads of Destiny|O. Henry
"You have thought over this sad problem a great deal," said Mr. Dinneford.
Cast Adrift|T. S. Arthur

British Dictionary definitions for sad

sad

/ (sæd) /

adjective sadder or saddest

feeling sorrow; unhappy

causing, suggestive, or expressive of such feelingsa sad story

unfortunate; unsatisfactory; shabby; deplorableher clothes were in a sad state

British informal ludicrously contemptible; pathetiche's a sad, boring little wimp

(of pastry, cakes, etc) not having risen fully; heavy

(of a colour) lacking brightness; dull or dark

archaic serious; grave

verb

NZ to express sadness or displeasure strongly

Derived Formssadly, adverbsadness, noun

Word Origin for sad

Old English sæd weary; related to Old Norse sathr, Gothic saths, Latin satur, satis enough

SAD

abbreviation for

seasonal affective disorder

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 sad

sad

adj.

Old English sæd "sated, full, having had one's fill (of food, drink, fighting, etc.), weary of," from Proto-Germanic *sathaz (cf. Old Norse saðr, Middle Dutch sat, Dutch zad, Old High German sat, German satt, Gothic saþs "satiated, sated, full"), from PIE *seto- (cf. Latin satis "enough, sufficient," Greek hadros "thick, bulky," Old Church Slavonic sytu, Lithuanian sotus "satiated," Old Irish saith "satiety," sathach "sated"), from root *sa- "to satisfy" (cf. Sanskrit a-sinvan "insatiable").

Sense development passed through the meaning "heavy, ponderous" (i.e. "full" mentally or physically), and "weary, tired of" before emerging c.1300 as "unhappy." An alternative course would be through the common Middle English sense of "steadfast, firmly established, fixed" (e.g. sad-ware "tough pewter vessels") and "serious" to "grave." In the main modern sense, it replaced Old English unrot, negative of rot "cheerful, glad."

Meaning "very bad" is from 1690s. Slang sense of "inferior, pathetic" is from 1899; sad sack is 1920s, popularized by World War II armed forces (specifically by cartoon character invented by Sgt. George Baker, 1942, and published in U.S. Armed Forces magazine "Yank"), probably a euphemistic shortening of common military slang phrase sad sack of shit.

Medicine definitions for sad

SAD

abbr.