Entry Word: woeful

Function: adjective

Meaning: 1 expressing or suggesting mourning <the woeful expressions of the players after the humiliating loss> — see mournful 1
2 feeling unhappiness <never saw a more woeful-looking bunch than those campers sitting there in the drenching rain> — see sad 1
3 of a kind to cause great distress <the restaurant patron made the woeful discovery that he had left his wallet at home> — see regrettable