adjective
-
about to cry
-
accompanying or indicative of weeping
a tearful expression
-
tending to produce tears; sad
Other Word Forms
- half-tearful adjective
- half-tearfully adverb
- half-tearfulness noun
- tearfully adverb
- tearfulness noun
Etymology
Origin of tearful
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.
A tearful Savannah Guthrie described the debilitating agony that haunts her at night.
From BBC • Mar. 25, 2026
The demonstrations in L.A. were often tearful affairs, she said.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 1, 2026
"We keep hearing missiles over our heads. I’m terrified," the artist posted in a tearful video on Instagram Saturday.
From Barron's • Mar. 1, 2026
Co-founder and CEO Jenny Goodman said she received an all-caps message with a smiling, tearful emoji from her director of operations after the ruling.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 22, 2026
I won’t go through the tearful good-byes, or the boat ride on the river to Canton, the port city, or the first few days on the demon boat.
From "Dragonwings" by Laurence Yep
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.
