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definitions

woeful

or wo·ful

[ woh-fuhl ]
/ ˈwoʊ fəl /
||
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR woeful ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

full of woe; wretched; unhappy: a woeful situation.
affected with, characterized by, or indicating woe: woeful melodies.
of wretched quality; sorry; poor: a woeful collection of paintings.

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RELATED WORDS

badly, sadly, severely, greatly, acutely, painfully, very, grievously, extremely

Nearby words

  1. woden,
  2. wodge,
  3. wodzislaw slaski,
  4. woe,
  5. woebegone,
  6. woefully,
  7. woesome,
  8. wof,
  9. woffington,
  10. wog

Origin of woeful

Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; see origin at woe, -ful
Related forms
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for woefully

British Dictionary definitions for woefully

woeful

/ (ˈwəʊfəl) /

adjective

expressing or characterized by sorrow
bringing or causing woe
pitiful; miserablea woeful standard of work
Derived Formswoefully, adverbwoefulness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for woefully

woeful

adj.

c.1300, "afflicted with sorrow," from woe + -ful. Weakened sense of "very bad" recorded by 1610s. Related: Woefully; woefulness.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper