1
as in mournful
expressing or suggesting mourning
adopted a sorrowful tone of voice to read the news story about the former governor's death
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in sad
feeling unhappiness
the cult seemed to be a sorrowful assemblage of emotionally scarred people seeking love and redemption
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of sorrowful
While Saturn might make this period feel sorrowful, remember that dreams take commitment and time.
—
Julia Gomez, USA Today, 7 Sep. 2025
Whereas Armah’s novel operates in the sorrowful register of existentialism, Sembène and Cissé’s films revel in the barbed parameters of comedy and trade in the comeuppance of corrupt leaders.
—Lovia Gyarkye, IndieWire, 19 Aug. 2025
The piece is marked by contrasts between the warm, enveloping sounds of the horns and the jagged tension expressed through sighing, sorrowful calls of the clarinet and ominous timpani rolls.
—Sheila Regan, Twin Cities, 11 July 2025
Book Club Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
★★★★☆
A sweet yet sorrowful story of two childhood friends coping with all of life’s most turbulent twists and turns, like loss, grief, and love.
—Sarah Kinonen, Allure, 26 Nov. 2024
See All Example Sentences for sorrowful
Julia Gomez, USA Today, 7 Sep. 2025
Whereas Armah’s novel operates in the sorrowful register of existentialism, Sembène and Cissé’s films revel in the barbed parameters of comedy and trade in the comeuppance of corrupt leaders.
—Lovia Gyarkye, IndieWire, 19 Aug. 2025
The piece is marked by contrasts between the warm, enveloping sounds of the horns and the jagged tension expressed through sighing, sorrowful calls of the clarinet and ominous timpani rolls.
—Sheila Regan, Twin Cities, 11 July 2025
Book Club Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
★★★★☆
A sweet yet sorrowful story of two childhood friends coping with all of life’s most turbulent twists and turns, like loss, grief, and love.
—Sarah Kinonen, Allure, 26 Nov. 2024
See All Example Sentences for sorrowful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sorrowful
Adjective
-
The atmosphere at Charlie Kirk's memorial in Glendale, Arizona, is anything but mournful.—
Amanda Castro
Mandy Taheri
Peter Aitken,
MSNBC Newsweek,
21 Sep. 2025
-
So mournful the distant owl in Black Brooks.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
19 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
One purveyor of fairy tales that wasn’t afraid of a sad ending?—
Elisabeth Sherman,
Parents,
3 Oct. 2025
-
Sade Bess, a Combs fan from Brooklyn, left the court’s overflow observation room looking both sad and relieved.—
Jennifer Peltz,
Fortune,
3 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
And every day, across from them, outside the clinic, about to enter or just leaving, there were women hugging each other and weeping.—
David Mamet,
National Review,
11 Aug. 2022
-
The show manages to stay on the brink — always laughing, never quite weeping — for its entire length.—
Helen Shaw,
Vulture,
8 Dec. 2021
Adjective
-
Smart, much like Georgia’s fan base, is pretty unhappy after yet another loss to Alabama.—
Seth Emerson,
New York Times,
1 Oct. 2025
-
While there are reasons to be unhappy with the performance, each win in the NFL is hard to get.—
Evan Massey,
MSNBC Newsweek,
28 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
The most painful part, the tragedy of our lives, was that Brenda was heartbroken.—
Ashley Hume,
FOXNews.com,
30 Sep. 2025
-
This isn't the first time the internet has been left heartbroken when a dog didn't want to play.—
Alice Gibbs,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
The writer, known for her trailblazing work in confessional poetry, was clinically depressed and died by suicide at age 30.—
Rachel Raposas,
PEOPLE,
30 Sep. 2025
-
Barbeau had been living alone, depressed and isolated since Jessica’s death.—
Jon Michael Varese,
The Atlantic,
28 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Since the tragic incident, Zemfira’s dad Ruslan Mukhtarov created a GoFundMe to help cover funeral expenses.—
Sam Gillette,
PEOPLE,
7 Oct. 2025
-
At the end of the service, a funeral procession carried Howard's casket, now draped in an American flag, south along Hickory Road.—
Liam Rappleye,
Freep.com,
4 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
The upshot of this contempt is a season that layers hypocrisy as well as sanctimony over the grubby, tedious nihilism that made Dahmer so miserable to watch.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
6 Oct. 2025
-
In the end, Jawan took pity on the miserable lot over on Kele and put the disadvantage of having to carry 20 pounds of coconuts and cycle through 10 keys instead of just one on Hina instead, saying Kele had been through too much already.—
Dalton Ross,
Entertainment Weekly,
2 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Sorrowful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sorrowful. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.
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