sadness
Americannoun
-
the quality or state of being sad; sorrow.
It’s frustrating to know the sadness you’re feeling and not be able to help you.
-
an instance of sorrow.
How can you be so unaware of the sadnesses these children have experienced?
Etymology
Origin of sadness
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English sadnesse; sad ( def. ) + -ness ( def. )
Explanation
Someone who's blue feels sadness, like a little girl whose best friend has moved away. Use the noun sadness when you're talking about sorrow. Sadness may be the overwhelming mood at a funeral, for example, or an elderly man might describe his life's greatest sadness as letting his childhood sweetheart get away. An interesting thing about sadness is that its original meaning was "seriousness." It wasn't until the 1600s that it came to mean "full of sorrow."
Vocabulary lists containing sadness
Obama's speech at Connecticut vigil
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -ness
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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.
We know this news will be deeply disappointing to many of you, and we share that sadness.
From Salon ● Nov. 5, 2026
"I feel deep sadness about what happened again last night. Nobody takes any pleasure in seeing this outcome," he said Sunday.
From Barron's ● Nov. 1, 2026
It’s a scene that Stewart imbues with terror and sadness as we see the formerly stoic Xavier shrivel in his hospital bed, reminded of his ailments and his mortality.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026
James Anderson has expressed sadness at being released by Lancashire, but stopped short of confirming the end of his legendary playing career.
From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2026
His throat was closing up with shame and sadness about what had happened with his mom, indistinguishable from the shame and sadness about what he’d done to Toby.
From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
