tearier; teariest
1
a
: wet or stained with tears : tearful
teary eyes
b
: consisting of tears or drops resembling tears
2
: causing tears : pathetic
a teary story

Examples of teary in a Sentence

There were many teary eyes among those in the audience. He made a teary farewell to the fans.
Recent Examples on the Web Following Aniston and Cooper's introductions, the Funny Girl star took the stage, and she was met with a standing ovation and emotional responses from several audience members, including Anne Hathaway, Emma Stone and later, Joey King, all of whom had teary eyes. Bailey Richards, Peoplemag, 25 Feb. 2024 The hours that followed the call were a teary blur, Mike said. Libor Jany, Los Angeles Times, 21 Feb. 2024 Prayers were silent across the church, but teary eyes and kneeling postures at St. Agnes Catholic Parish spoke louder than words Thursday. Andrea Klick, Kansas City Star, 15 Feb. 2024 And with that teary send-off, Reba announces that not only is her team officially full, but that her Reba's Tots stand is officially closed. Maggie Fremont, EW.com, 17 Oct. 2023 As the scene unspools, with her slow witnessing of unfriendly white faces and her teary desire to kill them all, a thick, rattling bass line co-mingled with the dense thud of native drums and low grumbling brass as Robertson’s response to Scorsese’s request. A.d. Amorosi, Variety, 16 Jan. 2024 Moore boldly exposed her pubic hair in Robert Altman’s Short Cuts, but this angry, teary characterization reveals nothing. Armond White, National Review, 10 Jan. 2024 Some actors get teary by staring into stage lights or holding their breath. Stuart Miller, Los Angeles Times, 4 Jan. 2024 More than 1,000 wishes from Las Vegas high schoolers living in a low-income area were granted after teacher Cheri Guy made a teary plea on TikTok to the social media community to help make their requests a reality. Susan Young, Peoplemag, 24 Dec. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'teary.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of teary was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near teary

Cite this Entry

“Teary.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/teary. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!