adjective
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about to cry
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accompanying or indicative of weeping
a tearful expression
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tending to produce tears; sad
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of tearful
Explanation
Before you break out in a full-fledged cry — when you're wiping your eyes and blowing your nose, you're tearful. If a person is tearful, he or she is full of tears. Most of them haven't flowed, but you can see them in someone's eyes. If you break out in a full-fledged cry, you're no longer tearful, you're weeping. If something is tearful, there are lots of tears involved. Think about the last time you said a tearful goodbye to a good friend, gave your sister a tearful hug, or witnessed a victim's tearful plea for mercy.
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.
When he returned to Australia, Smith broke down in a tearful address to the press in Sydney.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
Traditional music and tearful relatives welcomed the 45-year-old when he returned home on Friday after spending weeks recovering at a hospital in Kathmandu.
From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026
Sixteen sets of eyes stared up at her from the rug as children strained to get a look at the tearful raccoon.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026
Entrepreneurs posted tearful videos on social media to plead for help after their inventory was torched.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026
Then I saw the tearful face of Mabinty Suma.
From "Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina" by Michaela DePrince
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.
