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 dolorous The album’s pointed cover, showing a dolorous schoolboy gripping a phone while holding a basketball, hints at the weighty revelations contained therein. Will Dukes, Rolling Stone, 2 Sep. 2025 Above ground, the images are reminiscent of Bela Tarr or the particularly dolorous stretches of early Tarkovsky movies, an impression accented by the strange siren-like blares, twangs and choral interludes of Tako Zhordania’s otherwordly score. Jessica Kiang, Variety, 8 July 2023 The nodding plume and the dolorous bell. James Parker, The Atlantic, 29 Sep. 2022 The next evening, a lanky youth in military fatigues mumbles something less dolorous from the same podium and Llewyn can only watch from the sidelines as the audience applauds with vigour. Hazlitt, 24 Aug. 2022 Things had changed just enough to incorporate this kind of hard, dolorous realism. Wesley Morris, New York Times, 5 Nov. 2020 His Grammy supremacy, to the exclusion of Sheeran, shows that the dolorous guitarist no longer holds intrinsic sway over the smiling showman for the awards' purposes. Andrew Unterberger, Billboard, 28 Nov. 2017 His Grammy supremacy, to the exclusion of Sheeran, shows that the dolorous guitarist no longer holds intrinsic sway over the smiling showman for the awards' purposes. Andrew Unterberger, The Hollywood Reporter, 28 Nov. 2017 Did Affleck use up his store of dolorous winces in Manchester by the Sea? Christian Lorentzen, New Republic, 5 July 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dolorous
Adjective
  • Similarly, the discreetly mournful compositions of Giorgio Matteo and Aki Oliviero’s score hover politely on the periphery of the (in)action, careful not to intrude.
    Jessica Kiang, Variety, 4 Sep. 2025
  • His narration is a constant pleasure — mournful, wry, and suffused with a world-weary poetry.
    Leila Latif, IndieWire, 31 Aug. 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 the boy’s death, donors raised about $30,000 in a GoFundMe campaign launched to help with funeral expenses.
    Christy Gutowski, Chicago Tribune, 2 Sep. 2025
  • Both Ahmed and Karia spoke of family members having seen ghosts at funeral ceremonies, which made sense of the visitations Hamlet’s father makes after death.
    Baz Bamigboye, Deadline, 29 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • Hill’s 21-year-old son told WXYZ that his whole family is heartbroken.
    Jennifer Rodriguez, Kansas City Star, 4 Sep. 2025
  • Over the past half-decade, the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival has been called off three times, leaving behind unrealized lineups, swampy farmlands, and heartbroken fans.
    Audrey Gibbs, The Tennessean, 3 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Creative differences led to a bitter falling out between Davies and Hodgson, who left the band in 1983.
    Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 8 Sep. 2025
  • But to have the season’s only returning houseguest exit on a twist like this, and not even from gameplay, social standing or an eviction vote leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, to say the least.
    Nick Caruso, TVLine, 6 Sep. 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Podcast

Cite this Entry

“Dolorous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dolorous. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!