rueful

adjective

rue·​ful ˈrü-fəl 

1

: exciting pity or sympathy : pitiable

… rueful squalid poverty … by every wayside …

—John Morley

2

: mournful, regretful

… troubled her with a rueful disquiet.

—William Thackeray

ruefully

ˈrü-fə-lē 

adverb

ruefulness noun

Synonyms of rueful

• mournful
• weeping
• heartbroken
• funeral
• bitter
• melancholy

Examples of rueful in a Sentence

He gave me a rueful smile and apologized.

the rueful faces of friends and family who had gathered to pay their last respects

Recent Examples on the Web

That was one last flourish of self-laceration, and there is definitely a matching strain of masochism in Hopkins—not so much a relish of suffering as a rueful acknowledgment that earthly woe is our due. —Literary Hub, 6 Nov. 2025

That race ended with the elder Cuomo coming in second with 40% of the vote—a number the son invoked in his concession speech with a rueful smile. —Nik Popli, Time, 5 Nov. 2025

That was one last flourish of self-laceration, and there is definitely a matching strain of masochism in Hopkins—not so much a relish of suffering as a rueful acknowledgment that earthly woe is our due. —Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2025

Instead Kidman was wry, rueful, unsure of herself. —Wendell Steavenson, Vogue, 8 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

rueful

adjective

rue·​ful ˈrü-fəl 

1

: exciting pity or sympathy

2

: mournful sense 1, regretful

ruefully

-fə-lē 

adverb