DOLEFUL Synonyms: 202 Similar and Opposite Words

doleful

adjective

ˈdōl-fəl

Definition of doleful

as in mournful

expressing or suggesting mourning a doleful expression on their faces as they said good-bye to the friends they had made over the summer

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 Black Hills bucket-listing aside, time here is best spent tubing and fishing on the river, luxuriating in the infrared sauna, or listening to a doleful coyote song under a blanket of stars. — Ashlea Halpern, Time, 12 Mar. 2026 With their large hands and expressive, doleful faces, the great apes are often depicted as the poster children for experimentation. — Ava Kofman, New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2025 His doleful father, portrayed by Paul Dooley in a magically right match of performer and material, despairs for his blithely romantic son’s future. — Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune, 19 June 2025 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 See All Example Sentences for doleful

Recent Examples of Synonyms for doleful

Adjective

The years have only intensified Zimmerman’s mournful, hushed vocal performance, and Dream Me a Dream often plays out like a bedtime story spun by a beloved elder, accompanied by soft strings, shakers, and even a synth or two.

— Hattie Lindert, Pitchfork, 19 June 2026
The drama can stir up nostalgia and mournful emotions, and feels personal to many.

— Alyssa Goldberg, USA Today, 3 June 2026

Definition of mournful

Adjective

Now, Star is reporting that Blake Lively is trying not to be bitter about not being invited, but the snub has left her very sad.

— Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 8 July 2026
No living sister or Mother to administer relief in that hour the most sad in the history of humanity.

— Rose Horowitch, The Atlantic, 8 July 2026

Definition of sad

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

Definition of weeping

Adjective

Last year, researchers at Harvard University and Baylor University discovered that, on average, young adults aged between 18 to 29 are deeply unhappy.

— Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 9 July 2026
Licensed cannabis operators in states that have legalized marijuana tend to support the ban—they’re unhappy that hemp intoxicants face far less regulation and taxation than their products.

— Peter Su, Forbes.com, 8 July 2026

Definition of unhappy

Adjective

When Khomeini’s coffin began moving in a convoy, mourners surged towards it, causing a crowd crush and forcing the funeral procession to be abandoned, according to ISNA.

— Xiaoqian Lin, CNN Money, 6 July 2026
Amid the inextricable trauma of losing her 18-year-old child, the mother had feared that traditional funeral customs might be handled differently because of the manner in which her daughter died.

— Angie Leventis Lourgos, Chicago Tribune, 5 July 2026

Definition of funeral

Adjective

The pseudonymous title character, a depressed, drunken, belligerent twenty-six-year-old advice columnist, has no real hardships of his own and is cursed by doubt.

— Hannah Jocelyn, New Yorker, 1 July 2026
Supergirl is a story about a depressed, super-powered woman who is pulled out of her bar-hopping to help other people and find her purpose.

— Tiffany Kelly, Entertainment Weekly, 30 June 2026

Definition of depressed

Adjective

Their findings, some previously covered in Fortune, draw on a deep dataset spanning dozens of countries to confirm that ill-being is no longer hump-shaped in age — the young are now the most miserable cohort globally.

— Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 6 July 2026
Aguirre’s red card against West Germany in 1986 started a miserable run for Mexico.

— Colin Millar, New York Times, 4 July 2026

Definition of miserable

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doleful

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“Doleful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/doleful. Accessed 11 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of doleful

adjective

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