woeful

adjective

woe·​ful ˈwō-fəl How to pronounce woeful (audio)
variants or less commonly woful
1
: full of woe : grievous
woeful prophecies
2
: involving or bringing woe
3
: lamentably bad or serious : deplorable
woeful ignorance
woefully adverb
woefulness noun

Examples of woeful in a Sentence

The puppy had woeful eyes. The student's grades were woeful.
Recent Examples on the Web
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Despite a woeful regular season in his return from a second career Tommy John surgery, Buehler showed signs of life at the end of the campaign. Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 1 Nov. 2024 Danilo has looked particularly out of sorts and was repeatedly caught out of position by Stuttgart’s relentless attacks, while also misplacing passes and losing possession in a woeful performance. Adam Digby, Forbes, 23 Oct. 2024 During that stretch, his average against fastballs was a woeful .146. Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 28 Sep. 2024 Worse, the local government green-lighted the Coliseum’s pricey Mount Davis extension—a woeful plastic surgery that obscured the rolling Oakland hills behind the outfield wall—to bring back the NFL’s Raiders. Dan Bernstein, Sportico.com, 26 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for woeful 

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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

Dictionary Entries Near woeful

Cite this Entry

“Woeful.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/woeful. Accessed 10 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

woeful

adjective
woe·​ful ˈwō-fəl How to pronounce woeful (audio)
1
: full of woe
a woeful tale
2
: involving or bringing woe
a woeful occurrence
3
: pitifully bad
woeful ignorance
woefully adverb
woefulness noun

More from Merriam-Webster on woeful

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!