sorrowful
Americanadjective
-
full of or feeling sorrow; grieved; sad.
- Synonyms:
- unhappy
-
showing or expressing sorrow; mournful; plaintive.
a sorrowful song.
- Synonyms:
- melancholy
-
involving or causing sorrow; distressing.
a sorrowful event.
- Synonyms:
- heartbreaking , piteous
Other Word Forms
- oversorrowful adjective
- oversorrowfully adverb
- oversorrowfulness noun
- sorrowfully adverb
- sorrowfulness noun
Etymology
Origin of sorrowful
before 900; Middle English sorowful, Old English sorgful. See sorrow, -ful
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.
Government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani described his passing as "sorrowful", calling him a "noble and thoughtful actor of Iranian cinema" in a post on X.
From Barron's
“The official culture in Iran in the ‘80s was very sorrowful because of the war, and Shiite Islam was very oriented towards mourning.
From Los Angeles Times
It’s the song on the album that most directly addresses her breakup, and does so unflinchingly with a sorrowful piano.
From Los Angeles Times
Tonally, this steady and powerful film is everything the original program wasn’t: hesitant, sorrowful and compassionate for every human being onscreen.
From Los Angeles Times
At the start, music is mournful but not quite sorrowful, a lightly contemplative jazz-inspired feel anchored by a steel hang drum.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
