tearful

American  

[teer-fuhl] / ˈtɪər fəl /

adjective

1. full of tears; tear; weeping.

2. causing tears: tear.

   the tearful story of his poverty.

---

tearful British  

/ ˈtɪəfʊl /

adjective

1. about to cry

2. accompanying or indicative of weeping

   a tearful expression

3. 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

First recorded in 1580–90; tear ¹ + -ful

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

The day after Jessica’s tearful ride home, her dad told her that her mom had disappeared.

From Slate • Apr. 6, 2026

Stadio Olimpico welcomed Totti as a 16-year-old debutant in 1993 and worshipped him until a tearful goodbye aged 40.

From BBC • Apr. 6, 2026

They went ahead with the event, but opened with tearful remarks about losing one of their own and a moment of silence.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 5, 2026

He cracks jokes during his hospital stays, but in between you get a front-row look at how tiring, tearful and emotionally devastating his illness can be.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 23, 2026

She was not tearful; that was one of the many wonderful things about Ginny, she was rarely weepy.

From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling