as in sad
feeling unhappiness
"Why do you look so hangdog today?" she asked
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Recent Examples of hangdog
Vic accepts his highly public and private humiliation with hangdog equanimity.
—
Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 18 Mar. 2022
Segel earns some empathy as a hangdog Everyman, though his backstory remains such a deliberate blank that any insight is mostly gleaned from his blundering missteps and low-simmering misery.
—Leah Greenblatt, EW.com, 18 Mar. 2022
Last year, for example, a player came into Brown’s office with a hangdog look on his face explaining his mom was pulling him out of the program.
—Richard A. Marini, San Antonio Express-News, 18 Feb. 2022
Another slip here is the casting of Effros in the lead role of Martin, a hangdog techie who travels from New York to Cape Cod to settle the estate of his late, estranged dad, Kenneth.
—Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times, 9 Feb. 2022
See All Example Sentences for hangdog
Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 18 Mar. 2022
Segel earns some empathy as a hangdog Everyman, though his backstory remains such a deliberate blank that any insight is mostly gleaned from his blundering missteps and low-simmering misery.
—Leah Greenblatt, EW.com, 18 Mar. 2022
Last year, for example, a player came into Brown’s office with a hangdog look on his face explaining his mom was pulling him out of the program.
—Richard A. Marini, San Antonio Express-News, 18 Feb. 2022
Another slip here is the casting of Effros in the lead role of Martin, a hangdog techie who travels from New York to Cape Cod to settle the estate of his late, estranged dad, Kenneth.
—Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times, 9 Feb. 2022
See All Example Sentences for hangdog
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hangdog
Adjective
-
The sad reality is that Lucky really hasn't had all that much luck in his life to date.—
Jack Beresford,
MSNBC Newsweek,
26 July 2025
-
These people have gone through hell, and so checking in sometimes is just equally as sad and devastating.—
Brenna Ehrlich,
Rolling Stone,
25 July 2025
Adjective
-
Too little could leave you feeling down and even depressed.—
Bruce Y. Lee,
Forbes.com,
19 July 2025
-
Francis was depressed and couldn’t get out of bed for months, and in July 1976, a jury awarded her $2.6 million, finding the Howard Johnson chain responsible for her unsafe room.—
Mike Barnes,
HollywoodReporter,
17 July 2025
Adjective
-
Galino is unhappy with how Jimenez is running his territory, and thinks Tommy can help the cartel get into the oil business.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
27 July 2025
-
Things will become much clearer once Jenkins — who is unhappy with his current contract is currently sidelined with a back injury — begins practicing.—
Rob Reischel,
Forbes.com,
27 July 2025
Adjective
-
Ak’s heartbroken family are still reeling from her death.—
Rocco Parascandola,
New York Daily News,
22 July 2025
-
During the ‘54 season, a heartbroken Mack gave his sons, Earle and Roy, permission to sell his beloved team.—
Gabrielle Starr,
Boston Herald,
20 July 2025
Adjective
-
For now, this is DeVries on the job: intent but measured, teeth ready to clamp down on his tongue, establishing standards while also very much trying to make sure his team isn’t miserable from the beginning.—
Brian Hamilton,
New York Times,
11 July 2025
-
His Panthers opened the season with two miserable losses, complete with booing from fans in the home opener, and the 23-year-old soon became the first quarterback selected No. 1 overall in the Super Bowl era to be benched for non-injury reasons.—
Eric Jackson,
Sportico.com,
7 July 2025
Adjective
-
Filmed in snowy Vancouver and set to some of the most melancholy songs Leonard Cohen ever recorded, the film lets a sense of fatalism hang over even its lightest moments.—
Keith Phipps,
Vulture,
18 July 2025
-
It’s hushed, melancholy and rending in all the best ways.—
John Wenzel,
Denver Post,
16 July 2025
Adjective
-
Earlier this month, employees at the Environmental Protection Agency, filed their own letter, with even worse results; 140 of them were placed on administrative leave.—
Jeffrey Kluger,
Time,
22 July 2025
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Making the timing of this move even worse, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, the nation’s most high-profile banker, is warning that private credit funds may be heading for a 2008-style crisis.—
Orlando Sentinel,
The Orlando Sentinel,
22 July 2025
Adjective
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And so his hand was basically forced to be like, ‘Oh, sorry, my bandmember has serious mental-health problems.—
William Earl,
Variety,
21 July 2025
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The Hunting Wives begins with a pretty basic soap opera premise: Sophie O’Neil (Brittany Snow) has just moved from Boston—sorry, Cambridge, where the show keeps reminding us Harvard is—to small-town Texas for her husband Graham’s (Evan Jonigkeit) new job.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
21 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hangdog.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hangdog. Accessed 1 Aug. 2025.
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