1
as in mournful
expressing or suggesting mourning
the rueful faces of friends and family who had gathered to pay their last respects
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in sorry
feeling sorrow for a wrong that one has done
a rueful youth who had come to ask for forgiveness for online bullying
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in pitiful
deserving of one's pity
the rueful, desperate poverty of people in parts of the Third World
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of rueful
Wyle’s face — rueful, furious, gentle, world weary — looks like this year has felt.
—
Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 1 Dec. 2025
But most of Guy’s stories are told with the rueful smile of a man who knows his days of being underappreciated and underpaid are behind him.
—David Browne, Rolling Stone, 30 Nov. 2025
That was one last flourish of self-laceration, and there is definitely a matching strain of masochism in Hopkins—not so much a relish of suffering as a rueful acknowledgment that earthly woe is our due.
—Literary Hub, 6 Nov. 2025
That race ended with the elder Cuomo coming in second with 40% of the vote—a number the son invoked in his concession speech with a rueful smile.
—Nik Popli, Time, 5 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rueful
Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 1 Dec. 2025
But most of Guy’s stories are told with the rueful smile of a man who knows his days of being underappreciated and underpaid are behind him.
—David Browne, Rolling Stone, 30 Nov. 2025
That was one last flourish of self-laceration, and there is definitely a matching strain of masochism in Hopkins—not so much a relish of suffering as a rueful acknowledgment that earthly woe is our due.
—Literary Hub, 6 Nov. 2025
That race ended with the elder Cuomo coming in second with 40% of the vote—a number the son invoked in his concession speech with a rueful smile.
—Nik Popli, Time, 5 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rueful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rueful
Adjective
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Then, in the Andante movement, the upper strings opened with a glassy sound before the mournful line of the cello entered.—
Sheila Regan,
Twin Cities,
28 Mar. 2026
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Over the years, humpback whale songs have been recorded for human listening, with many describing the songs as having a haunting, mournful quality.—
Patrick Whittle,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Although not all species of bird can fly (sorry about that, ostriches), many birds do enjoy the power of flight, and this has permitted an almost unlimited diversification of birds, so that birds are now found virtually everywhere on Earth.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
2 Apr. 2026
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But there is one more ingredient, something that has perhaps been buried underneath everything else in the sorry mess of their 2025-26 campaign.—
Jack Pitt-Brooke,
New York Times,
2 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Most of the time, experts say, vaguebooking boils down to a pitiful plea for attention on the part of the poster.—
Charles Trepany,
USA Today,
9 Apr. 2026
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Given that California ranks a pitiful 49th in the nation in the condition, safety and costs of roads and bridges, according to the Reason Foundation’s 2025 Annual Highway Report, taxpayers’ transportation dollars would likely be better spent elsewhere.—
Adam Summers,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
20 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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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
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The show manages to stay on the brink — always laughing, never quite weeping — for its entire length.—
Helen Shaw,
Vulture,
8 Dec. 2021
Adjective
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Maybe the mere fact of having been born illustrious, with no apparent faults, with nothing to prove or to be ashamed of, had liberated John from the resentments the rest of us feel, and from the cunning and ambition such resentments fuel.—
Jeffrey Eugenides,
New Yorker,
4 Apr. 2026
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This is a terrible blow against reform and the Dems should be ashamed.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
2 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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The politicians who shut down the government are pathetic on both sides of the aisle.—
Joe Soucheray,
Twin Cities,
28 Mar. 2026
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His Floyd constantly straddles the line between sweet and pathetic, often falling off one side or the other.—
Bill Goodykoontz,
AZCentral.com,
24 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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She was implicated in the case, with heartbroken Karadec handling her booking himself.—
Nellie Andreeva,
Deadline,
7 Apr. 2026
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Joe heads back downstairs and Irene looks… heartbroken.—
Jordan Hoffman,
Entertainment Weekly,
6 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Todd Kesterson of Kaufman Rossin said his remorseful clients aren't necessarily strapped for cash, but are frequently displeased when their children's fortunes exceed theirs.—
Hayley Cuccinello,
CNBC,
2 Apr. 2026
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His public defender told reporters on Thursday that her client was remorseful.—
Carlos E. Castañeda,
CBS News,
26 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Rueful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rueful. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.
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