tristful

adjective

trist·​ful ˈtrist-fəl 

: sad, melancholy

… a tristful harpist completes recollections of rainy afternoons …

—Simon Schama

tristfully

ˈtrist-fə-lē 

adverb

tristfulness noun

Did you know?

The Middle English word trist, from which tristful is derived, means "sad." Today, we spell this word triste (echoing the spelling of its French ancestor, a descendant of the Latin tristis), whereas tristful has continued to be spelled without the e. Is there a connection between triste ("sad") and tryst ("a secret rendezvous of lovers")? No. Tryst also traces back to a Middle English trist, but it is a different word, a noun that is a synonym of trust. This other word trist eventually fell into disuse, but before doing so, it may have given rise to a word for a station used by hunters, which in turn led to tryst.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English trist sad, from Anglo-French triste

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for tristful

• fistful
• wistful

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