sorrowing 1 of 3

adjective

as in mourning

Related Words

Relevance

sorrowing

2 of 3

noun

as in weeping

Related Words

Dissimilar Words

sorrowing

3 of 3

verb

present participle of sorrow
as in grieving
to feel deep sadness or mental pain the soldier's widow continued to sorrow long after her husband's last letter had turned yellow with age

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for sorrowing
  1. sad
  2. weeping
  3. grieving
  4. mournful
  5. mourning
  6. aching
  7. melancholy
  8. suffering
Adjective
  • Tuesday's testimony in Media was emotional and sad as the 911 call of the stabbing was played.
    — Joe Holden, CBS News, 13 Oct. 2026
  • But seeing Mike Love this weekend was a sad one for Beach Boys fans.
    — Geoff Edgers, Washington Post, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of sad
Noun
  • Cue the lovelorn weeping in the rain set to composer Roger Goula’s supple string score, and before us, a sweeping love epic bursts alive with real pain.
    — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Body camera footage showed Flynn weeping, covering his face, and rocking back and forth as police searched his home.
    — Nicki Brown, CNN Money, 19 Sep. 2026
Definition of weeping
Verb
  • As investigators search for answers, a restaurant is stepping in to help grieving families and those with loved ones in the hospital.
    — Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 18 Oct. 2026
  • Panicked, grieving parents were trying to help when crews arrived, Faizi said.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of grieving
Adjective
  • East Suffolk, a windblown span of marshy coastland, has a reputation for stark, mournful beauty, and for drawing creative people with a taste for isolation and escape.
    — Nathan Heller, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2026
  • And after Flaco the Eurasian eagle-owl died in 2024, dozens of mournful fans gathered to say goodbye to the beloved creature who flew around Manhattan and became a joy to many after someone let him out of his zoo enclosure the previous year.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of mournful
Noun
  • While Boeing callously deflects blame for their negligence, a family of one victim finds strength in gathering collective mourning.
    — Matthew Carey, Deadline, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Nigerian President Bola Tinubu declared three days of mourning and directed flags to be flown at half-staff throughout the country to mourn the victims.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of mourning
Verb
  • Moments of mutual support and understanding, of belly-aching laughter and silliness, of care and deep love.
    — Kevin Dolak, HollywoodReporter, 14 Oct. 2026
  • As an orthopedic surgeon, Howard Luks treats aching, aging knees.
    — Gretchen Reynolds, Washington Post, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of aching
Adjective
  • The contrasts between the two tales are never drastic; the gradations are sometimes as fine as those between warm and cool melancholy.
    — Guy Lodge, Variety, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Mackenzie Crook’s meditative and melancholy comedy is about a man whose life has been on pause since his girlfriend’s disappearance, leading him to use alchemy to get answers.
    — Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of melancholy
Noun
  • Pelvic pain and trouble peeing are disruptive, but UTIs are dangerous if left untreated — delays in care are all too common and make prolonged suffering and dangerous complications more likely.
    — Helen Carefoot, Flow Space, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Schleinzer made a deliberate choice not to depict the assaults themselves, arguing that images carry a responsibility, particularly in a culture saturated with graphic representations of suffering.
    — Katherine Brodsky, Variety, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of suffering
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.

Browse Nearby Words

sorrowfulness
sorrowing
sorrowing (for)
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Sorrowing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sorrowing. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All