1
: flowing with or accompanied by tears
tearful entreaties
2
: causing tears : teary
a tearful eulogy
tearfulness
noun
Examples of tearful in a Sentence
He looked up at me with his tearful eyes and asked for help.
the tearful parting of two lovers
Recent Examples on the Web
On Friday, mourners jammed The Apostolic Church on Squirrel Road, bidding tearful farewells to a respected detective, popular colleague, churchgoer and neighbor, husband and father.
—
Bill Laytner, Detroit Free Press, 28 June 2024
The bears often become celebrities in the process — while the departure of three pandas from the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington last year triggered tearful farewells and fears the United States would eventually be left with no pandas.
—Jennifer Hassan, Washington Post, 27 June 2024
All three movies in West’s X trilogy basically deliver on that front, even the slightly ponderous Pearl, which featured fewer murders and more tearful monologues by Goth.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 2 July 2024
Angelini apologized during tearful remarks at the sentencing hearing.
—Madeleine O'Neill, Baltimore Sun, 28 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for tearful 
Bill Laytner, Detroit Free Press, 28 June 2024
The bears often become celebrities in the process — while the departure of three pandas from the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington last year triggered tearful farewells and fears the United States would eventually be left with no pandas.
—Jennifer Hassan, Washington Post, 27 June 2024
All three movies in West’s X trilogy basically deliver on that front, even the slightly ponderous Pearl, which featured fewer murders and more tearful monologues by Goth.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 2 July 2024
Angelini apologized during tearful remarks at the sentencing hearing.
—Madeleine O'Neill, Baltimore Sun, 28 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for tearful
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tearful.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near tearful
Cite this Entry
“Tearful.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tearful. Accessed 27 Jul. 2024.
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