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as in sad
feeling unhappiness the visibly doleful players, heartbroken about their loss

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of doleful Her Night Moves may have been a thriller, though its focus was less the act of environmental sabotage that its characters carried out than its doleful aftermath. Alison Willmore, Vulture, 13 May 2025 James, with his doleful countenance, makes the adult Hal vaguely sympathetic. Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 17 Feb. 2025 Krauss’s ethereal voice is as haunting as ever on this mournful ballad, where doleful lyrics look back on a time marked by regret and deceit, and get elevated by the elegant interplay between Krauss’ voice and Jerry Douglas’s soul-piercing steel guitar. Jessica Nicholson, Billboard, 3 Feb. 2025 But while his focus may be on the end, Mahashmashana is anything but dour or doleful. Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 19 Nov. 2024 See All Example Sentences for doleful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for doleful
Adjective
  • Walt Disney Imagineering updated the storyline of Black Widow Bride Constance Hatchway earlier this year by turning her from an axe murderer who beheads her wealthy husbands into a more mournful figure overwhelmed by the dread of lost love.
    Brady MacDonald, Oc Register, 13 Oct. 2025
  • In this context, even a simple boast about wielding a Beretta sounded mournful.
    Kelefa Sanneh, New Yorker, 7 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • As Morgan and Sasha chat it up at Noah’s family’s Purim party, a sad-eyed Esther stands off to the side, quietly watching the interaction.
    Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 24 Oct. 2025
  • The footage shows Deiseroth’s demeanor teetering between sad and angry.
    David Goodhue October 24, Miami Herald, 24 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
  • Following Dombrowski’s comments and his belief that Harper is unhappy with his current contract situation, Sherman opened the door to a potential offseason trade that sends Harper elsewhere.
    Peter Chawaga, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Oct. 2025
  • People who will be sent there include those who let their poor unhappy doggies bark endlessly, those who throw trash on the beach and those who hunt exotic animals for sport.
    Marla Jo Fisher, Oc Register, 22 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • On a recent day, a patron drank a Guinness at the bar amid walls are covered in funeral notices from people who had come for a drink after saying that final goodbye.
    Chris Kenning, USA Today, 25 Oct. 2025
  • The family has not yet announced funeral plans, and no further details have been made public.
    Martha McHardy, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Real wages remain depressed and economic growth has stalled.
    Robert Birsel, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Oct. 2025
  • These options include simply selling their position through open-market sales, an exchange offer or a mandatory exchangeable bond, with proceeds potentially funding a large share buyback, which would be highly accretive to Fluor's EPS, especially at its currently depressed valuation.
    Kenneth Squire, CNBC, 25 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Though we were heartbroken at the goodbyes, there was a small sense of relief, knowing that fewer mouths to feed would mean a little more food for those who stayed behind.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 21 Oct. 2025
  • Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodríguez each hit a solo home run for the Mariners in the team’s first Game 7 but Seattle failed to reach its first World Series, leaving the heartbroken Mariners as the only major league team without a pennant.
    Ian Harrison, Twin Cities, 21 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Kansas did an excellent job of pressuring the opposing ball-handlers, getting into shooters’ faces and making life miserable in general for the Cardinals.
    Shreyas Laddha, Kansas City Star, 25 Oct. 2025
  • The flights were miserable, but the anxiety between trips was just as bad.
    Rustin Dodd, New York Times, 23 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Doleful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/doleful. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.

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