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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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
Noun
-
Lane takes his place among the best, his Willy Loman a powder keg of frustration and disappointment and deep, deep sadness.—
Greg Evans,
Deadline,
9 Apr. 2026 -
Underneath the fantastical conceit is this current of sadness, of loneliness, a yearning for connection.—
Emma Alpern,
Vulture,
8 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Anna ends up at a hotel bar, ordering a burger and a beer, eating her sorrows away.—
Jocelyn Noveck,
Boston Herald,
10 Apr. 2026
-
Don't resist them; that only creates sorrow.—
Kait Hanson,
Southern Living,
2 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Make gentle depressions with your fingertips to create ¼-inch-deep divots.—
SJ McShane,
Martha Stewart,
12 Apr. 2026
-
One of the bills would create a pilot program for psychedelic or psilocybin mushrooms to be used in medicine for the treatment of mental health conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder and severe depression.—
Esme Murphy,
CBS News,
11 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Here, in this new context, their large eyes did not seem wide with their usual wonder but swollen with grief and disbelief.—
Douglas Stuart,
New Yorker,
12 Apr. 2026
-
The overwhelming grief of losing a child became even worse when a detective gave her a notebook from Audree’s locker.—
Meena Duerson,
CNN Money,
11 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Despite the anguish — often told as a punch line — the winner of the competition offered a glimmer of hope to the nearly 90 attendees live-voting throughout the show via an app.—
Brittany Levine Beckman,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Apr. 2026
-
The heart-stopping anguish of seeing two West Ham winners scored and then be ruled out only underlined the direction of this match’s one-way traffic.—
Beren Cross,
New York Times,
6 Apr. 2026
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
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.
Cite this Entry
“Dolefulness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dolefulness. Accessed 15 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
