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.
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
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
From Arabic
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.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"It's sad just to see how our world is changing," she concluded.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
For something less medieval, the sad suburbanites of HBO’s “DTF St. Louis” might do the trick, or the tragic romance of “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette” from FX.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
I’m almost positive this piece existed; and the fact that I couldn’t find any mention of it in the sad, hollowed-out husk of the 2026 internet offers no proof that it didn’t.
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026
“It’s a sad song, but we sing it anyway,” Hermes reminds us, and it’s a sentiment worth repeating.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
“I’ve spent years researching enchanted worlds, trying to get back to the one I visited. But growing up is difficult, sad business. Everything becomes more important. I wish I could have avoided it.”
From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova
One of the ways you can combat SAD is to brighten up your home.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 8, 2024
Sufferers of SAD will find depressive symptoms emerging as the days shorten and waning as spring approaches.
From BBC ● May 17, 2023
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
The days are shorter, the nights are dark and full of terrors and you are left, once again, feeling SAD.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 23, 2022
SAD is an extremely contagious disease that causes total memory loss in those who contract it.
From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart
Nothing is sadder than to watch people stroll past that memorial as if nothing is out of the ordinary, our civic pride and historical perspective crushed under the weight of indifference.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 11, 2026
But it became a much stranger, sadder story which almost a decade later is told onscreen in The Artist Who Disappeared.
From BBC ● Mar. 29, 2026
He’s a symptom of something older, sadder and far less widespread than the headlines suggest.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 11, 2025
The world would be a sadder place without Queen's music, John Waters' films, and Andy Warhol's paintings.
From Salon ● Apr. 28, 2025
And it grew sadder when the bells of the church began to toll, and the afternoon shadows lengthened.
From "Bless Me, Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya
Read: Opinion: Running out of money is not the saddest retirement mistake you can make.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
Anton Du Beke, Widdecombe's dance partner on Strictly, said her death was the "saddest of news".
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
Mr. Adams also proved to be the right composer to memorialize America’s saddest day: Sept. 11, 2001, when the nation was brought virtually to its knees.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
It’s the first ingredient in what I believe is television’s saddest picnic — and one of its most beautiful meals.
From Salon ● Jun. 30, 2026
He’s just sitting and staring with the saddest look in the universe.
From "The Queen of Water" by Laura Resau
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.
