as in melancholy
a state or spell of low spirits
she was filled with sadness at the thought of having to leave her family
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Recent Examples of sadness
Relieved of their blindfolds, the men now wore heavy rucksacks filled with colored rocks representing their anger (red), guilt and shame (black), and sadness (blue).
—
Charles Bethea, New Yorker, 30 Mar. 2026
Reaction to the news Monday that the Connecticut Sun WNBA team is officially being moved to Houston was of sadness and regret in Connecticut, especially amongst those who had tried to keep the professional women’s basketball team in the state over the last year.
—Lori Riley, Hartford Courant, 30 Mar. 2026
Ashleigh Stovall described the guilt of having a good day, the confusion of feeling fine, then feeling terrible about giving herself permission to experience anything but sadness.
—Brit McCandless Farmer, CBS News, 29 Mar. 2026
His father sat off in a distant corner of frustration and sadness.
—Eric Boodman, Vulture, 25 Mar. 2026
Emotional contributors to Sam’s chronic pain, for example, included the depression and sadness that made his body hurt more, and the untreated stress and anxiety that kept his nervous system in overdrive.
—Big Think, 24 Mar. 2026
Curiously, there is less bitterness among farmworkers and advocates than there is sadness.
—Marcos Breton, Sacbee.com, 24 Mar. 2026
Cincinnati Reverend Pete Mingo previously said he is filled with sadness and disbelief over the shooting as this is not the first time a juvenile has been a victim of gun violence in the city.
—Alexis Martin, Cincinnati Enquirer, 23 Mar. 2026
Still, along with the sadness, there’s ample speculation in the art world and on social media that the artist himself orchestrated this round of naming.
—Laurie Kellman, Los Angeles Times, 23 Mar. 2026
Charles Bethea, New Yorker, 30 Mar. 2026
Reaction to the news Monday that the Connecticut Sun WNBA team is officially being moved to Houston was of sadness and regret in Connecticut, especially amongst those who had tried to keep the professional women’s basketball team in the state over the last year.
—Lori Riley, Hartford Courant, 30 Mar. 2026
Ashleigh Stovall described the guilt of having a good day, the confusion of feeling fine, then feeling terrible about giving herself permission to experience anything but sadness.
—Brit McCandless Farmer, CBS News, 29 Mar. 2026
His father sat off in a distant corner of frustration and sadness.
—Eric Boodman, Vulture, 25 Mar. 2026
Emotional contributors to Sam’s chronic pain, for example, included the depression and sadness that made his body hurt more, and the untreated stress and anxiety that kept his nervous system in overdrive.
—Big Think, 24 Mar. 2026
Curiously, there is less bitterness among farmworkers and advocates than there is sadness.
—Marcos Breton, Sacbee.com, 24 Mar. 2026
Cincinnati Reverend Pete Mingo previously said he is filled with sadness and disbelief over the shooting as this is not the first time a juvenile has been a victim of gun violence in the city.
—Alexis Martin, Cincinnati Enquirer, 23 Mar. 2026
Still, along with the sadness, there’s ample speculation in the art world and on social media that the artist himself orchestrated this round of naming.
—Laurie Kellman, Los Angeles Times, 23 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sadness
Noun
-
The film’s empathetic interest in individual, often eccentric human lives gives it a warmth that overrides the underlying melancholy of the material, making for a pleasingly unsentimental crowdpleaser.—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
24 Mar. 2026
-
Some acknowledged the possibility that melancholy could be inherited.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Growing up on a farm in Wabasha, Minnesota, one of 18 children, Bea milked cows and attended a one-room schoolhouse during the great depression.—
Irene Gonzalez,
CBS News,
30 Mar. 2026
-
Hoang models the potential sales of these drugs by using Johnson & Johnson's Spravato, an intranasal ketamine derivative first approved to address treatment-resistant depression in 2019 , as a case study.—
Davis Giangiulio,
CNBC,
29 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Indeed, in Iran the slaughter of protesters by the Iranian Republican guards filled me with sorrow and outrage.—
Dr. Michael Good,
Hartford Courant,
25 Mar. 2026
-
As the communities in Maui continue to rebuild their homes and their lives two years after the wildfires killed 102 people, the flooding added to the sorrow.—
Matt Gutman,
CBS News,
24 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Billy Randolph had shaped them and how his death had altered their lives, responses came after long pauses and were choked with grief.—
Emerson Clarridge
Updated March 27,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
28 Mar. 2026
-
Is such an existential shriek into the abyss, all while living in a society suffused by mind-numbing grief and nationalism, worth subjecting yourself to?—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
28 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
But some congregants’ anguish over October 7th was compounded by dread about Israel’s brutal, indiscriminate response.—
Eyal Press,
New Yorker,
30 Mar. 2026
-
Accenting the anguish by bizarre apparent coincidence, less than two weeks later the National Basketball Rules Committee reinstated the dunk — it had been banned for nearly a decade at the amateur level.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
28 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Amid the doom and gloom of news coverage, audiences are hungry for wholesome feel-good content like animal videos.—
Jessie Yeung,
CNN Money,
26 Mar. 2026
-
According to Cramer, the street chose to focus on the doom and gloom of rising oil prices, disregarding Wednesday's pullback.—
Natasha Abellard,
CNBC,
25 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The science is far from settled, and some studies suggest that tech doesn’t cause users’ unhappiness.—
Kristin Stoller,
Fortune,
24 Mar. 2026
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The teacher retired from District 128 some time ago, and parents attended the meeting to demand accountability from administrators and express their unhappiness with the school and district's response to the allegations.—
Vince Floress,
CBS News,
17 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The transition from agricultural employment to factory employment involved wrenching mass migration, the utter misery of the Great Depression (as well as other brutal recessions, now faded from collective memory), and the painful dealmaking of the New Deal.—
Annie Lowrey,
The Atlantic,
25 Mar. 2026
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In contrast, his wife, Chandravati, is selfish as a daughter-in-law and disrespects Swasthani, leading to enormous misery for her.—
Jessica Vantine Birkenholtz,
The Conversation,
24 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Sadness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sadness. Accessed 1 Apr. 2026.
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