1
as in mournful
expressing or suggesting mourning
adopted a sorrowful tone of voice to read the news story about the former governor's death
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in sad
feeling unhappiness
the cult seemed to be a sorrowful assemblage of emotionally scarred people seeking love and redemption
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of sorrowful
The dissolve from a god’s eye view of a comforting, warm embrace in a bed between mother and daughter to the cold, sorrowful chill of Alex’s lonely body hits us like a wallop.
—
Courtney Howard, Variety, 28 Mar. 2025
No other actor this year delivered a line with more sorrowful force.
—Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor, 27 Feb. 2025
The lawyer, played by Kayla Wallace, listens with the sorrowful look of a child who has burned down a Ronald McDonald house with her terminally ill brother inside.
—Stephen Rodrick, Rolling Stone, 9 Mar. 2025
Being successful in America, according to Part II, inherently means becoming the bad guy, and Francis Ford Coppola mourns that fact, abetted by arguably Pacino’s finest, most sorrowful performance as a man who sells every bit of his soul to maintain his power.
—Will Leitch, Vulture, 3 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sorrowful
Courtney Howard, Variety, 28 Mar. 2025
No other actor this year delivered a line with more sorrowful force.
—Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor, 27 Feb. 2025
The lawyer, played by Kayla Wallace, listens with the sorrowful look of a child who has burned down a Ronald McDonald house with her terminally ill brother inside.
—Stephen Rodrick, Rolling Stone, 9 Mar. 2025
Being successful in America, according to Part II, inherently means becoming the bad guy, and Francis Ford Coppola mourns that fact, abetted by arguably Pacino’s finest, most sorrowful performance as a man who sells every bit of his soul to maintain his power.
—Will Leitch, Vulture, 3 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sorrowful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sorrowful
Adjective
-
Joining in the festivities is outgoing French student Chloé (Cécile Matignon, hugely appealing), ostensibly in a relationship but flirting brazenly with Nicolau, who even after a few beers is too mournful to pick up the signals.—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
10 July 2025
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The mournful cries of nearby Slow-Lows draw attention from other infected in the area, who plant themselves along the top of a picturesque hill waiting for the Alpha’s signal to attack.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
18 June 2025
Adjective
-
The sad reality is that Lucky really hasn't had all that much luck in his life to date.—
Jack Beresford,
MSNBC Newsweek,
26 July 2025
-
Collins, who has previously celebrated the unique pleasures of the early dinner, finds something to like about lunch in all its guises—the power lunch, the liquid lunch, even the sad desk lunch.—
Ian Crouch,
New Yorker,
25 July 2025
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
-
That's become a new line of attack for the Trump administration, which is already unhappy with the Fed for not moving more aggressively to lower interest rates.—
Scott Horsley,
NPR,
14 July 2025
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Speculation is that Ferrari is unhappy with Vasseur's performance, although these rumors have been shut down by Vasseur, Lewis Hamilton, and Charles Leclerc.—
Saajan Jogia,
MSNBC Newsweek,
12 July 2025
Adjective
-
Ak’s heartbroken family are still reeling from her death.—
Rocco Parascandola,
New York Daily News,
22 July 2025
-
Faced with no other option, the heartbroken family surrendered Draco to the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control (DACC), despite having loved and raised him for over five years.—
Tereza Shkurtaj,
People.com,
20 July 2025
Adjective
-
Too little could leave you feeling down and even depressed.—
Bruce Y. Lee,
Forbes.com,
19 July 2025
-
Francis was depressed and couldn’t get out of bed for months, and in July 1976, a jury awarded her $2.6 million, finding the Howard Johnson chain responsible for her unsafe room.—
Mike Barnes,
HollywoodReporter,
17 July 2025
Adjective
-
April 23, 2025 But a papal funeral is a papal funeral, and those present for the funeral Mass on Saturday, along with millions watching online or on TV around the world, will still observe a solemn moment involving sumptuous Catholic pageantry.—
Elisabetta Povoledo,
New York Times,
25 Apr. 2025
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Maliciously or willfully disturbing a funeral, memorial service, procession or burial ceremony. Threatening, quarreling or challenging to fight someone, or fighting.—
Shaun Goodwin,
Idaho Statesman,
16 June 2025
Adjective
-
For now, this is DeVries on the job: intent but measured, teeth ready to clamp down on his tongue, establishing standards while also very much trying to make sure his team isn’t miserable from the beginning.—
Brian Hamilton,
New York Times,
11 July 2025
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His Panthers opened the season with two miserable losses, complete with booing from fans in the home opener, and the 23-year-old soon became the first quarterback selected No. 1 overall in the Super Bowl era to be benched for non-injury reasons.—
Eric Jackson,
Sportico.com,
7 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Sorrowful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sorrowful. Accessed 30 Jul. 2025.
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