1
: exciting pity or sympathy : pitiable
rueful squalid poverty … by every wayside—
John Morley
John Morley
ruefulness
noun
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
Dumont’s spirit of derision imbues his allegory with outrageous humor and rueful melancholy.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 11 Mar. 2025
Perkins’s follow-up, The Monkey—adapted from a short story by Stephen King—is another tonally wild take on the horror genre: arch, gleefully gory, and played for dark, rueful laughs.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 21 Feb. 2025
On Wednesday, the designers were rueful about stepping down, but looked back on their long New York fashion adventure with fondness.
—Miles Socha, WWD, 15 Jan. 2025
Nothing’s third episode, Kris Kristofferson’s rueful ballad is very much the latter.
—Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 24 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for rueful
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Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 11 Mar. 2025
Perkins’s follow-up, The Monkey—adapted from a short story by Stephen King—is another tonally wild take on the horror genre: arch, gleefully gory, and played for dark, rueful laughs.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 21 Feb. 2025
On Wednesday, the designers were rueful about stepping down, but looked back on their long New York fashion adventure with fondness.
—Miles Socha, WWD, 15 Jan. 2025
Nothing’s third episode, Kris Kristofferson’s rueful ballad is very much the latter.
—Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 24 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for rueful
Cite this Entry
“Rueful.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rueful. Accessed 6 May. 2025.
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