dolefulness

noun

1
as in sadness
a state or spell of low spirits with the resigned dolefulness of an athlete who knows his playing days are over, he cleared out his locker for the last time

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in sorrow
deep sadness especially for the loss of someone or something loved a period of dolefulness that seemed to last forever for the widower

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for dolefulness
  1. sadness
  2. sorrow
  3. depression
  4. grief
  5. melancholy
  6. anguish
  7. mournfulness
Noun
  • Despite being steeped in the sadness and frustration of the working class, Lee’s drama uses its film-within-a-film construct to refract the moral valences of labor through the prism of what people actually earn through their work.
    — David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 6 Sep. 2026
  • This one, however, finds the director in a mood to confront the inevitable changes and march of time, its joys and sadness in the lives of ordinary people going about living it.
    — Pete Hammond, Deadline, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of sadness
Noun
  • Kenyan President William Ruto expressed sorrow on behalf of his government and people.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 7 Sep. 2026
  • But as hours stretched into days with no word from them, his hope turned to sorrow.
    — Faith Karimi, CNN Money, 6 Sep. 2026
Definition of sorrow
Noun
  • Overall, Carr says groups treated with itPBM showed fewer symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress and PTSD, and showed more efficient processing, faster response speed, improved sustained attention and enhanced executive function.
    — Mirin Fader, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026
  • The left brain, by contrast, commands language processing, and following a stroke to the left brain, a person can develop not only a communication disorder but often post-stroke depression as well.
    — Michael P.H. Stanley, STAT, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of depression
Noun
  • As the tournament and the date intersect from year to year, each anniversary that coincides represents a chance to remember, and a reminder of the non-linearity of grief.
    — Lukas Weese, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026
  • Impervious to inclement grief, rising seas, & the separatist hurricanes of history.
    — Marcus Wicker, Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of grief
Noun
  • On the one hand, there’s a fascination with collective joy and the forms of vernacular invention that aspire to it; on the other, there’s an underlying melancholy that points to the inevitability of isolation, an epistemology of loneliness.
    — Pablo Larios, Artforum, 1 Sep. 2026
  • Beneath all the sensuality and beauty, there’s also a lingering melancholy that feels very familiar to me.
    — Erik Pedersen, Oc Register, 16 June 2026
Definition of melancholy
Noun
  • Still, even on video, Davis doesn’t appear wracked with guilt or anguish about the possibility of spending the rest of his life in the Nevada penitentiary system.
    — Jeff Weiss, HollywoodReporter, 5 Sep. 2026
  • One day, Cole paged through an album whose acidic glues caused her particular anguish.
    — Laura Preston, New Yorker, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of anguish
Noun
  • Power Ballad should be breezy and fun, with that twist of mournfulness that Carney is always so adept at pulling off.
    — Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 29 May 2026
Definition of mournfulness
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.

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dolefully
dolefulness
dole out
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Cite this Entry

“Dolefulness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dolefulness. Accessed 14 Sep. 2026.

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