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sorrowful

[ sor-uh-fuhl, sawr- ]

/ ˈsɒr ə fəl, ˈsɔr- /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR sorrowful ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

full of or feeling sorrow; grieved; sad.

showing or expressing sorrow; mournful; plaintive: a sorrowful song.

involving or causing sorrow; distressing: a sorrowful event.

QUIZZES

DON’T VACILLATE! VANQUISH THIS WORD OF THE DAY QUIZ!

It’d be a real faux pas to miss this quiz on the words from August 3–9, 2020!

Question 1 of 7

What does “vacillate” mean?

to waver in mind or opinion; be indecisive or irresolute.

to cause to be empty or unoccupied.

to assent tacitly; agree; consent.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of sorrowful

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

SYNONYMS FOR sorrowful

1 unhappy, grieving.

3 piteous, heartbreaking.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR sorrowful ON THESAURUS.COM

OTHER WORDS FROM sorrowful

sor·row·ful·ly, adverbsor·row·ful·ness, nouno·ver·sor·row·ful, adjectiveo·ver·sor·row·ful·ly, adverb

o·ver·sor·row·ful·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for sorrowful

Romney manages to speak highly and sorrowfully of the freedom agenda, and thus to praise Bush.
Arab Spring Comment Was a Romney Love Letter to the Israeli Right Wing|Michael Tomasky|July 28, 2012|DAILY BEAST
He was a dissident,” Havel told me sorrowfully “before he was a man.
Vaclav Havel Was Torn Between Socialism and Freedom|Geoffrey Robertson|December 22, 2011|DAILY BEAST
This was not said sorrowfully, but with a bright gleam as of some fancied and pleasant possibility.
The Carpenter's Daughter|Anna Bartlett Warner
"I have given you no cause to hate me," said Belle, looking me sorrowfully in the face.
Res Judicat|Augustine Birrell

"She has rejected him, I see it by your face; I suspected it from his wanderings," she said, sorrowfully.
Wives and Widows; or The Broken Life|Ann S. Stephens
"All right—if you say so," the poor child said sorrowfully, and I knew that her affection for me had been put to a fiery test.
At the Age of Eve|Kate Trimble Sharber
The children sympathized with her and said one after the other, sorrowfully, "What a pity, what a pity!"
Uncle Titus and His Visit to the Country|Johanna Spyri

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