Synonyms for sorrowful
- adjective
Most common
mournful plaintive lugubrious doleful heart-breaking painful
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Mournful — exhibiting sorrow; dejected; distraught; sad. (of a person)
mournful, plaintive, lugubrious, doleful, melancholy, grievous, disconsolate, tearful, grief-stricken, elegiac, wretched, unhappy, heartsick, dark, lamentable, anguished, piteous, downcast, forlorn, sorry, broken-hearted, dismal
2. Sad — producing sorrow; causing grief
sad, painful, heart-breaking, bitter, rueful, heart-rending, tragic, distressing, saddening, depressing, pitiful, regrettable, deplorable, upsetting
Other
wailful formal
Definitions
- adj. 1
exhibiting sorrow; dejected; distraught; sad. (of a person)
- adj. 2
Producing sorrow; causing grief.
Related words
- Word family
- sorrowfully sorrowfulness
Example sentences
- mournful Tom stood at the window with a mournful expression on his face.
- plaintive The plaintive melody broke her heart.
- lugubrious I'd prefer to be called lugubrious rather than a sad sack.
- doleful My dog died yesterday, so I'm quite doleful.
- painful She is still in the painful process of growing up.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| sorrowful | rising | |
| mournful | rising | |
| plaintive | rising | |
| lugubrious | steady | |
| doleful | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 3 letters
- sad1
- 4 letters
- dark1
- 5 letters
- sorry2
- 6 letters
- bitter2, tragic2, dismal2, rueful2
- 7 letters
- painful2, unhappy3, pitiful3, tearful2, forlorn2, elegiac, doleful2, piteous, wailful
- 8 letters
- wretched2, grievous2, mournful2, downcast2
- 9 letters
- upsetting3, anguished2, plaintive2, saddening3, heartsick
- 10 letters
- depressing3, melancholy4, deplorable4, lamentable4, lugubrious4
- 11 letters
- distressing3, regrettable4
- 12 letters
- disconsolate
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (sorry2 = 2 syllables).