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

• aching
• agonized
• anguished
• bemoaning
• bewailing
• bitter
• deploring
• doleful
• dolesome
• dolorous
• funeral
• grieving
• heartbroken
• lamentable
• lugubrious
• mournful
• plaintive
• plangent
• regretful
• rueful
• sorrowful
• sorry
• wailing
• weeping

Examples of woeful in a Sentence

The puppy had woeful eyes.

The student's grades were woeful.

Recent Examples on the Web

Last year’s window averaged 38.8 million viewers on Fox, and that was despite the fact that Dallas’ opponent was a woeful Giants squad. —Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 16 May 2025

After making the post-season in each of the past two years, the Orioles are a woeful last in the American League East Division at 15-27 and have lost 9 of their last 11 games. —Chuck Murr, Forbes.com, 15 May 2025

One only has to observe Amtrak’s woeful track record for keeping the Northeast Corridor running smoothly through New Jersey as an indication of their inability to handle serious repair projects. —Gerard Bringmann, New York Daily News, 14 May 2025

Losing in the second round, injuries or not, is a woeful underachievement for a team that raced to the top seed in the East during a regular season that doesn’t much matter anymore. —Jason Lloyd, New York Times, 14 May 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