as in melancholy
a state or spell of low spirits
she was filled with sadness at the thought of having to leave her family
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Recent Examples of sadness
His profound sadness and rage give the audience permission to feel similarly.
—
Ronda Racha Penrice, HollywoodReporter, 15 June 2026
The Spurs accrued a 10-point lead at that point, blitzing the Knicks with the type of pressure expected from a team that was a loss away from an offseason filled with sadness.
—Fiifi Frimpong, New York Daily News, 14 June 2026
If that doesn’t happen, there are always the records to remind him of the heights that Jaimoe reached with the Allmans, which can still ameliorate the sadness.
—David Browne, Rolling Stone, 12 June 2026
The closure post on Thursday morning had already garnered more than 100 comments from social media users, most of them sharing memories or expressing sadness over the sudden shuttering.
—Katelyn Umholtz, Kansas City Star, 11 June 2026
Feelings of sadness and fear of rejection manifest as monsters lurking in the dark, while moments of joy take the form of bright skies.
—Zackery Cuevas, PC Magazine, 10 June 2026
Although Ed Montizaan, 65, didn’t know the Ryces, like many living in Redland at the time, the horror and sadness of Jimmy’s murder permanently marked him.
—David Goodhue, Miami Herald, 10 June 2026
The news of his death was met with shock and sadness from fans, players and fellow broadcasters around the NBA.
—Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 7 June 2026
Similarly, having a conscience means feeling sadness or moral repulsion at the idea of taking a certain action, and those emotions entail a physiological response, a remnant of having once felt sick with guilt after committing an immoral act.
—Ted Chiang, The Atlantic, 3 June 2026
Ronda Racha Penrice, HollywoodReporter, 15 June 2026
The Spurs accrued a 10-point lead at that point, blitzing the Knicks with the type of pressure expected from a team that was a loss away from an offseason filled with sadness.
—Fiifi Frimpong, New York Daily News, 14 June 2026
If that doesn’t happen, there are always the records to remind him of the heights that Jaimoe reached with the Allmans, which can still ameliorate the sadness.
—David Browne, Rolling Stone, 12 June 2026
The closure post on Thursday morning had already garnered more than 100 comments from social media users, most of them sharing memories or expressing sadness over the sudden shuttering.
—Katelyn Umholtz, Kansas City Star, 11 June 2026
Feelings of sadness and fear of rejection manifest as monsters lurking in the dark, while moments of joy take the form of bright skies.
—Zackery Cuevas, PC Magazine, 10 June 2026
Although Ed Montizaan, 65, didn’t know the Ryces, like many living in Redland at the time, the horror and sadness of Jimmy’s murder permanently marked him.
—David Goodhue, Miami Herald, 10 June 2026
The news of his death was met with shock and sadness from fans, players and fellow broadcasters around the NBA.
—Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 7 June 2026
Similarly, having a conscience means feeling sadness or moral repulsion at the idea of taking a certain action, and those emotions entail a physiological response, a remnant of having once felt sick with guilt after committing an immoral act.
—Ted Chiang, The Atlantic, 3 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sadness
Noun
-
Absent the lush melancholy of classic synth-pop, what Hervé and Amato had in common with their forbears was a spirit of innovation rooted in profound laziness.—
Walden Green,
Pitchfork,
23 May 2026
-
While the actors are committed, poignant and warm, their upbeat tone doesn’t always blend well with the melancholy of the picture.—
Tomris Laffly,
Variety,
13 May 2026
Noun
-
His high point will be long forgotten, disastrously undone by his successor to plunge the world into recession, if not depression.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
14 June 2026
-
Tasks can include smelling dangerously high or low glucose levels, smelling mood swings, anxiety and depression, smelling an impending seizure and many other tasks.—
Jeanne Phillips,
Mercury News,
14 June 2026
Noun
-
Should this come to pass, Kennedy and his allies will have succeeded in Making Microbes Great Again—to our swift and deepening sorrow.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
11 June 2026
-
Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed sorrow over the crash, paying tribute to the military personnel killed.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
10 June 2026
Noun
-
The emotion of the World Cup The USA often gets a lot of grief for not being a proper soccer-playing nation.—
Ben Church,
CNN Money,
13 June 2026
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Amid the grief, people are finding a way forward, and Colin and Sophie Hortman gave Minnesotans the blueprint.—
Ubah Ali,
CBS News,
13 June 2026
Noun
-
Power Ballad should be breezy and fun, with that twist of mournfulness that Carney is always so adept at pulling off.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
29 May 2026
Noun
-
There followed a series of European successes (Italy, Spain, Germany, France) before the anguish, for Brazilians, of seeing big South American rivals Argentina win a third world title in Qatar four years ago.—
Oliver Kay,
New York Times,
14 June 2026
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Its revivification of history — staged simply and vaulted to extremes of anguish and tension by its fine acting — is both chilling and, in a sharp, icky way, often funny.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
14 June 2026
Noun
-
For a few hours, there's no doom and gloom on the news, no family drama, no Slack notifications, no people fighting about dumb stuff on social media.—
Amber Harding OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
14 June 2026
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The first thing many visitors see from their airplane windows is the giant LUMEN screaming up through the Seattle gloom.—
Les Carpenter,
Washington Post,
10 June 2026
Noun
-
From this follow both the political dimension and a certain form of ignorance as to the source of so much unhappiness—and not only on the family front.—
Nina Mesfin,
New Yorker,
7 June 2026
-
Her disagreeableness may stem from unhappiness with the way her life has turned out.—
Jeanne Phillips,
Mercury News,
7 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Sadness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sadness. Accessed 20 Jun. 2026.
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