sorrowful

[sor-uh-fuhl, sawr-]

adjective

1. full of or feeling sorrow; grieved; sad.

   Synonyms: unhappy

2. showing or expressing sorrow; mournful; plaintive.

   a sorrowful song.

   Synonyms: melancholy

3. involving or causing sorrow; distressing.

   a sorrowful event.

   Synonyms: heartbreaking, piteous

Other Word Forms

• sorrowfully adverb
• sorrowfulness noun
• oversorrowful adjective
• oversorrowfully adverb
• oversorrowfulness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of sorrowful¹

before 900; Middle English sorowful, Old English sorgful. See sorrow, -ful

Example Sentences

Government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani described his passing as "sorrowful", calling him a "noble and thoughtful actor of Iranian cinema" in a post on X.

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“The official culture in Iran in the ‘80s was very sorrowful because of the war, and Shiite Islam was very oriented towards mourning.

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It’s the song on the album that most directly addresses her breakup, and does so unflinchingly with a sorrowful piano.

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Tonally, this steady and powerful film is everything the original program wasn’t: hesitant, sorrowful and compassionate for every human being onscreen.

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At the start, music is mournful but not quite sorrowful, a lightly contemplative jazz-inspired feel anchored by a steel hang drum.

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Related Words

• affecting 
• distressing www.thesaurus.com
• heart-wrenching 
• heartrending 
• lugubrious 
• melancholy 
• mournful 
• painful 
• plaintive 
• sad 
• sorry