sad
adjective
affected by unhappiness or grief; sorrowful or mournful.
sad
1 American
[sad]
/ sæd /
adjective
-
sadder,
comparative
-
saddest
superlative
-
affected by unhappiness or grief; sorrowful or mournful.
to feel sad because a close friend has moved away.
- Synonyms:
- melancholy, dejected, depressed, downhearted, downcast, gloomy, discouraged, disconsolate, despondent, unhappy
- Antonyms:
- happy
-
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.
sād
2
American
[sahd]
/ sɑd /
noun
SAD
3
American
sad
1
British
/ sæd /
adjective
-
feeling sorrow; unhappy
-
causing, suggestive, or expressive of such feelings
a sad story
-
unfortunate; unsatisfactory; shabby; deplorable
her clothes were in a sad state
-
informal ludicrously contemptible; pathetic
he'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
SAD
2
British
abbreviation
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of sad1
First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English sæd “grave, heavy, weary,” originally “sated, full”; cognate with German satt, Gothic saths “full, satisfied”; akin to Latin satis “enough,” satur “sated,” Greek hádēn “enough.” See satiate, saturate
Origin of sād2
From Arabic
Explanation
When you're sad, you feel unhappy. If you've ever experienced the death of a pet you loved deeply, you know exactly what it means to feel sad. You might use the adjective sad informally to describe something that's pathetic or that you feel scornful or disdainful about. For example, you might comment on your friend's elaborate homemade hat by saying, "That hat is just sad," though it wouldn't be very nice of you to say it. The term "sad sack" became popular during World War II and has been used ever since to refer to an incompetent, slightly pitiful person.
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.
See Examples For:
“Kinda sad that its gotten to the point where they have to put signs like this up,” one person commented on X.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
A new documentary shows the moment Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola told his players that he was "incredibly sad" that captain Kyle Walker had asked to leave the club.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
"So sad, what happened with Kyle," he says, before a home match with Chelsea.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
But then in 2014, there was more sad news.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
The music drifted across the pews, sweet and sad and hopeful all at once.
From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney
One study, “Seasonal Asset Allocation: Evidence from Mutual Fund Flows,” found a strong inverse correlation between the stock market and SAD.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026
And we know that SAD has a big impact on the stock market.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026
The NHS recommends people who think they might have SAD and are struggling to cope see their GP.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2025
The current thinking is that SAD is a result of our circadian rhythm becoming desynchronised - directly caused by the decrease in sunlight.
From BBC ● May 17, 2023
A common first symptom of SAD is the belief that one hears children’s voices in one’s head.
From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart
"We were able to find the body; some people couldn't. And that seems even sadder to me," she said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026
The Financial Times's Danny Leigh dished out three stars, saying it paints a "portrait of tech rendering the young both sadder and meaner".
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026
And even sadder to see globalization tossed aside like last year’s toy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 3, 2026
It’s also well cast, with the appealing Blyth always in control of the undercurrents, especially alongside the excellent Tovey, playing a sadder, wiser closetedness.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2025
Liyana thought she was sadder about the blue plate than the toilet.
From "Habibi" by Naomi Shihab Nye
Opinion: Running out of money is not the saddest retirement mistake you can make.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
Anton Du Beke, Widdecombe's dance partner on Strictly, said her death was the "saddest of news".
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
In a story about a potential tragedy, what’s saddest is that Winocour’s film cannot match its lead’s effortless command.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026
“The saddest part of learning all that is that it made them seem even more like us than they had before.”
From Salon ● Apr. 23, 2026
On the roof is the saddest looking plastic cow I’ve ever seen.
From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
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.
