woeful

adjective

woe·ful | \ ˈwō-fəl

variants: or less commonly woful

Definition of woeful

1 : full of woe : grievous woeful prophecies

2 : involving or bringing woe

3 : lamentably bad or serious : deplorable woeful ignorance

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Examples of woeful in a Sentence

The puppy had woeful eyes. The student's grades were woeful.

Recent Examples on the Web

The Hammers were 2-1 down at half time, but conceded two second half goals in a woeful display by the home side. — SI.com, "West Ham Fans Fear Star Player Will Leave Club After Hammers' Negative Display Against Man City," 30 Apr. 2018 Zidane's lackadaisical approach to the tie while one goal up from the first leg epitomised Los Blancos' failings throughout the campaign, with their somewhat woeful attempt at defending La Liga title also evidence of that. — SI.com, "Real Madrid vs Leganes Preview: Classic Encounter, Key Battle, Team News & More," 27 Apr. 2018 There is little coincidence that Los Blancos' woeful opening half of the campaign domestically, as well as, in some instances, in Europe coincided with the crisis of confidence the Portuguese was suffering. — SI.com, "Why Real Madrid's Galacticos Don't Deserve to Be Remembered as One of Europe's Greatest Ever Sides," 25 May 2018 In May, South America’s top soccer official, Paraguayan Alejandro Dominguez, shocked the U.S. and Mexico by offering a coveted guest spot in the 2019 Copa América tournament to Qatar’s woeful national team. — Ken Bensinger, Time, "Why the Most Compelling Drama at the World Cup Might Be Off the Field," 14 June 2018 This season's woeful Orioles start was mostly attributed to the team's uneven roster, with too many passengers who weren't pulling their weight and too many hitters playing not just out of position, but playing positions at all. — Jon Meoli, baltimoresun.com, "Trumbo's misplay in right field opens door for 3-run 8th as White Sox rally past Orioles, 3-2," 23 May 2018 Despite investing huge sums of money in new talents last summer, Milan have endured a woeful start to the Serie A season. — SI.com, "AC Milan Goalkeeper Exit Rumours Intensify After Agent Meets With PSG Officials," 6 Jan. 2018 Evans: Resurrected his career with a productive 2017-18 season (19.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 45.2 percent) for the woeful Memphis Grizzlies. — J. Michael, Indianapolis Star, "Which free agents are available to the Pacers," 25 June 2018 Powerful teachers’ unions protect woeful educators when they should be sacked. — The Economist, "Universal lessons," 5 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'woeful.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.