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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of rueful
Through Eisenhower’s ruminations, Hellesen’s script notably engages with passages that land with rueful resonance to today’s ears, drawing applause from Sunday evening’s opening night crowd.
—
Christopher Smith, Oc Register, 20 Jan. 2026
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
See All Example Sentences for rueful
Christopher Smith, Oc Register, 20 Jan. 2026
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
See All Example Sentences for rueful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rueful
Adjective
-
The hour-long event included mournful hymns, prayers and the laying of wreaths by the participants, which included representatives from many countries around the world.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
24 Apr. 2026
-
His face, always stationed somewhere halfway to hangdog, seems to gain 20 new creases carved deep into his skin, accentuating his mournful eyes and his excruciated, heartbroken smile.—
Kathryn VanArendonk,
Vulture,
17 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
As this page has chronicled, everything from airline turf wars and safety concerns to a sorry on-time performance went into that determination.—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
11 May 2026
-
For those wishing to hand everyone an F for not winning the Stanley Cup, sorry.—
Steve Conroy,
Boston Herald,
9 May 2026
Adjective
-
Will the harsh weather mean poor growth and pitiful harvests?—
Gemma Johnstone,
The Spruce,
8 May 2026
-
Written as a response to the utopian fiction that consumed Russia’s intelligentsia at the time, Notes from Underground is a mirror that reflects the ugliest, most pitiful aspects of humanity back at us.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
29 Apr. 2026
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
-
Mayor Gloria and the City Council should be ashamed of themselves.—
U T Readers,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
26 Apr. 2026
-
May the world know that Americans are ashamed and suffering and locked into despair and destruction, which now affects the world.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
20 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
But as Notes from Underground progresses, his behavior turns from funny to pathetic to downright despicable.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
29 Apr. 2026
-
Over pinwheeling synths, Mahesh inhabits her narrator’s misplaced longing with gooey, heart-eyed delusion and sweetly pathetic determination.—
Harry Tafoya,
Pitchfork,
24 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Gloria, her son, and Rickman moved to an apartment in the town of Tumwater in September 2021, and her heartbroken parents chose to sell their hotel.—
Paul LaRosa,
CBS News,
3 May 2026
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The 17-year-old boy knifed to death during a clash with a stranger on a Bronx street was preparing to graduate and looking forward to his prom, his heartbroken mother said Thursday.—
Emma Seiwell,
New York Daily News,
30 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
In the wake of Kirk’s murder, and the high-profile punishments incurred by those who weren’t properly remorseful, Kirk morphed into one of the most widespread memes in recent memory.—
Brady Brickner-Wood,
New Yorker,
29 Apr. 2026
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Horner did not seem remorseful in the interview, Espinoza said.—
Amy McDaniel,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
10 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Rueful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rueful. Accessed 13 May. 2026.
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