Definition of sorrowfulnext
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as in sad
feeling unhappiness the cult seemed to be a sorrowful assemblage of emotionally scarred people seeking love and redemption

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of sorrowful Season 2’s prevailing tone is at once more serious and less sorrowful. Graham Hillard, The Washington Examiner, 13 Mar. 2026 Fennell also cut the novel’s frame story, in which the events of the story are told by the housekeeper Nelly (played in the movie by Hong Chau) to an outside observer years after all the sorrowful drama that befouled Heathcliff and Cathy. Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 13 Feb. 2026 With its family friction and its outsiders’ view of a fast-growing city in a young, postwar country, Shame and Money casts a piercing, sorrowful gaze at the ground-level effects of globalization. Sheri Linden, HollywoodReporter, 30 Jan. 2026 Amazon Prime offers a wide selection of sad movies, catering to various tastes, from sorrowful classics like Bicycle Thieves (1948) to heartbreaking modern dramas like Till (2022), each guaranteed to get your tear ducts working overtime. Kevin Jacobsen, Entertainment Weekly, 29 Jan. 2026 See All Example Sentences for sorrowful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sorrowful
Adjective
  • The hour-long event included mournful hymns, prayers and the laying of wreaths by the participants, which included representatives from many countries around the world.
    ABC News, ABC News, 24 Apr. 2026
  • His face, always stationed somewhere halfway to hangdog, seems to gain 20 new creases carved deep into his skin, accentuating his mournful eyes and his excruciated, heartbroken smile.
    Kathryn VanArendonk, Vulture, 17 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • Back in the city, Amanda and Ciara go for a walk so that Amanda can hear all about the makeup with West and then tell Ciara the very sad tale of her love story as it was related to their couple’s therapist.
    Brian Moylan, Vulture, 29 Apr. 2026
  • None at all leads to slow, pale, sad-looking growth that limps through the season.
    Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Miami Herald, 29 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • And every day, across from them, outside the clinic, about to enter or just leaving, there were women hugging each other and weeping.
    David Mamet, National Review, 11 Aug. 2022
  • The show manages to stay on the brink — always laughing, never quite weeping — for its entire length.
    Helen Shaw, Vulture, 8 Dec. 2021
Adjective
  • Alex Cora was clearly unhappy towards the end.
    Zach Dean OutKick, FOXNews.com, 27 Apr. 2026
  • There were thousands of unhappy Stagecoach festivalgoers on Saturday night, as the approximately 75,000-80,000 guests were forced to evacuate due to high winds.
    Emily Longeretta, Variety, 26 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • At the end of the book, feeling heartbroken about Marcus’ involvement in Nancy’s death, Mary kills Howard by giving him too many painkillers.
    Max Gao, Variety, 29 Apr. 2026
  • The heartbroken mother didn’t want to be identified, fearing for her family’s safety.
    Kerry Burke, New York Daily News, 29 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • Researchers believe inbreeding led to depressed survival rates in pups.
    CBS News, CBS News, 27 Apr. 2026
  • Sam is very depressed and feels lonely and isolated.
    Staff Author, PEOPLE, 25 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • The search would have captured 3,000 users, including more than 1,000 attending a funeral service at the Islamic Center of New Mexico.
    Bart Jansen, USA Today, 26 Apr. 2026
  • Mohammed Zaatari / APMourners gather around the coffin of Amal Khalil ahead of her funeral procession today.
    NBC News, NBC news, 24 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • The reality could not have been more miserable.
    Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 26 Apr. 2026
  • Apple TV‘s Pluribus is described as a genre-bending original in which the most miserable person on Earth must save the world from happiness.
    Scott Huver, Deadline, 25 Apr. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Sorrowful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sorrowful. Accessed 3 May. 2026.

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