1
as in emotional
given to expressing strong emotion (as sorrow) by readily shedding tears
a tearful woman who can be counted on to cry at every wedding, anniversary, and funeral
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in sad
causing unhappiness
the tearful end to what had once been a close friendship
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of tearful
Joe played it, hearing his tearful wife speak of how the Vines mess dredged up, yet again, so much of the pain of losing their son.
—
Matt Webb Mitovich, TVLine, 27 Apr. 2025
On May 10, 2008, country music legend Randy Travis inducted a tearful Underwood into the famed Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.
—Ashley Hume, FOXNews.com, 27 Apr. 2025
Many will remember a tearful Giyasov talking about his daughter who recently passed away during his post-fight interview after his win over Ocampo.
—Brian Mazique, Forbes.com, 25 Apr. 2025
Ring noted the video of Read talking about O’Keefe’s mother was shown on Wednesday shortly after Peggy O’Keefe gave tearful testimony about learning about her son’s death.
—Michael Loria, USA Today, 25 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tearful
Matt Webb Mitovich, TVLine, 27 Apr. 2025
On May 10, 2008, country music legend Randy Travis inducted a tearful Underwood into the famed Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.
—Ashley Hume, FOXNews.com, 27 Apr. 2025
Many will remember a tearful Giyasov talking about his daughter who recently passed away during his post-fight interview after his win over Ocampo.
—Brian Mazique, Forbes.com, 25 Apr. 2025
Ring noted the video of Read talking about O’Keefe’s mother was shown on Wednesday shortly after Peggy O’Keefe gave tearful testimony about learning about her son’s death.
—Michael Loria, USA Today, 25 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tearful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tearful
Adjective
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In a speech that lasted nearly five minutes, an emotional Gaga moved the crowd.—
Billboard Brasil,
Billboard,
5 May 2025
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John Boyega's ex-Stormtrooper Finn and Han are brothers from another mother, Oscar Isaac's pilot Poe is as cool and refreshing as a tall glass of blue milk, and Adam Driver's Kylo does his best Vader impression as a maniacal villain with some serious emotional issues.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
4 May 2025
Adjective
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For someone who prizes roadside Americana, this is the visual version of the sad trombone sound.—
Christopher Reynolds,
Los Angeles Times,
15 May 2025
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After the show, there's booze, girls, and hotel suites, but Abel's locked in the bathroom, being sad.—
Jordan Hoffman,
EW.com,
15 May 2025
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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Instead, Chernow devotes a hefty portion of his 1,039 pages (excluding notes) to Twain’s personal tribulations, a depressing series of bungles and calamities starting in the author’s middle age.—
Graeme Wood,
The Atlantic,
9 May 2025
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Based on the memoir of a real doctor, the stories and tribulations feel achingly real, and Whishaw's sly smile and tongue-in-cheek delivery keeps the depressing stories from becoming too morose.—
Kelly Lawler,
USA Today,
8 May 2025
Adjective
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No other governor, remember, has tried to pull off this pathetic budget stunt.—
Joe Soucheray,
Twin Cities,
10 May 2025
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In his last, most pathetic years, Mark Twain threw himself behind the crackpot theory that the true author of Shakespeare’s plays may have been Francis Bacon.—
Graeme Wood,
The Atlantic,
9 May 2025
Adjective
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Flores, upon learning of the reports, grew visibly teary, but remained in the game because the deal was pending the standard medical review.—
Ken Rosenthal,
New York Times,
30 Apr. 2025
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For her part, Park got teary eyed thanking Goreski for his heart, humor and spirit and for helping lift her up in the wake of a critical sepsis illness.—
Chris Gardner,
HollywoodReporter,
25 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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That consistency was perhaps why, despite the Warriors’ stunning Game 1 win, the tone of their postgame interviews was at times mournful rather than celebratory.—
Andrew Greif,
NBC news,
7 May 2025
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One aspect is the story that is told, which is a very mournful story of a mother losing a child and then abandoning herself to the river as the child was.—
Nick Romano,
EW.com,
6 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Comment At the end of the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of Richard Strauss’s Salome, the soprano Elza van den Heever stayed onstage to accept the uproarious ovations with a weepy smile and a grateful tap on her heart.—
Justin Davidson,
Vulture,
30 Apr. 2025
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Novelist Kazuo Ishiguro’s weepy cloning love-triangle story turned out to be apt source material for his friend Garland to adapt.—
Eric Vilas-Boas,
Vulture,
11 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tearful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tearful. Accessed 18 May. 2025.
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