woeful

adjective

woe·​ful ˈwō-fəl 

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

ˈwō-f(ə-)lē 

adverb

woefulness

ˈwō-fəl-nəs 

noun

Synonyms of woeful

• mournful
• weeping
• heartbroken
• funeral
• bitter
• lamentable
• grieving
• wailing
• sad

Examples of woeful in a Sentence

The puppy had woeful eyes.

The student's grades were woeful.

Recent Examples on the Web

From Weeks 13 to 17, all five matchups are against teams in the bottom eight at preventing fantasy points to tight ends, including two games against the woeful Bengals. —Eddie Brown, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Nov. 2025

Rosemary will unwittingly give birth to the Antichrist; as a trade, Guy’s woeful acting career will take off. —Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 30 Oct. 2025

Despite his woeful performance — by his standards — Snell is looking forward to making some adjustments and, hopefully, delivering a gem on Wednesday. —Nelson Espinal, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Oct. 2025

Brock Purdy’s return seems close and, after Mac Jones’ woeful performance Sunday, is legitimately anticipated. —Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 26 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for woeful

• toefl
• woful

Kids Definition

woeful

adjective

woe·​ful ˈwō-fəl 

1

: full of woe

a woeful tale

2

: involving or bringing woe

a woeful occurrence

3

: pitifully bad

woeful ignorance

woefully

-f(ə-)lē 

adverb

woefulness

-fəl-nəs 

noun