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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of tearful
At his sentencing hearing, relatives of the victims gave tearful accounts of how the killings have changed their lives.
—
Christopher Cann, USA Today, 24 July 2025
The tearful goodbye marked a major milestone for Sánchez Bezos and her family.
—Stephanie Giang-Paunon, FOXNews.com, 12 Aug. 2025
Tom, meanwhile, also has issues in his home life that result in arguments at the dinner table and tearful confessions.
—Raven Brunner, People.com, 12 Aug. 2025
That teen was also arraigned in Bronx Criminal Court Thursday as his tearful family looked on.
—Sheetal Banchariya, New York Daily News, 7 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tearful
Christopher Cann, USA Today, 24 July 2025
The tearful goodbye marked a major milestone for Sánchez Bezos and her family.
—Stephanie Giang-Paunon, FOXNews.com, 12 Aug. 2025
Tom, meanwhile, also has issues in his home life that result in arguments at the dinner table and tearful confessions.
—Raven Brunner, People.com, 12 Aug. 2025
That teen was also arraigned in Bronx Criminal Court Thursday as his tearful family looked on.
—Sheetal Banchariya, New York Daily News, 7 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tearful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tearful
Adjective
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The former couple, who share son Sasha and daughter Kai, revealed that Sasha left home for college in emotional tributes shared on Instagram.—
Edward Segarra,
USA Today,
23 Aug. 2025
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Humor and lightness not only sustain attraction but also reinforce emotional safety.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
22 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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The song’s a lonely and sad tale, with the narrator pondering his state in the back of the long, white Cadillac.—
Eric D. Lawrence,
USA Today,
30 Aug. 2025
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Colman and Cumberbatch set aside the sad aspects of divorce and instead engage in an all-out war, perfectly and comically encapsulating their hatred for each other.—
Rebecca Aizin,
People.com,
29 Aug. 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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The bottom line is downright depressing: short of a direct U.S. military intervention that no serious analyst would contemplate, Trump’s toolkit to will a Ukraine peace deal into existence is bare.—
Daniel DePetris,
Time,
7 Aug. 2025
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Gambling today, however, is a sad and depressing experience, nothing like my dad’s and my Atlantic City adventure.—
Reader Commentary,
Baltimore Sun,
15 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Two things were completely predictable after Donald Trump’s pathetic stunt, packing the streets of Washington, DC, with National Guard members and federal agents, allegedly to combat crime.—
Chris Brennan,
USA Today,
22 Aug. 2025
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How petty and pathetic and thin-skinned could this administration get?—
Angie Martoccio,
Rolling Stone,
22 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Zach, meanwhile, gets teary over his current predicament.—
Nick Caruso,
TVLine,
14 Aug. 2025
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All the conceits of a true-crime film are there – the lead detective interviews, shaky images from police-cams, the salacious headlines, the nauseating crime scene photos, the TV news reports, teary interviews with friends and family.—
Randy Myers,
Mercury News,
7 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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The backstory for the maze follows the mournful tale of Mary Worth following the tragic death of her family.—
Brady MacDonald,
Oc Register,
20 Aug. 2025
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Soon she’s caught up in a supernatural murder mystery involving fatally beaky crows; dealing with an obsessive, disturbingly round-eyed fan (Evie Templeton); and bickering with mother Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones, who tends to strike a quiet note that seems almost genuinely mournful).—
Tom Gliatto,
People.com,
6 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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That both of its leading men have suffered some great heartache is obvious from the first minutes of the premiere, directed by Jeremiah Zagar and set to Dan Deacon’s weepy score — even if the precise shape and scope of their losses will take some time to tease out.—
Angie Han,
HollywoodReporter,
28 Aug. 2025
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There’s also a noticeable waft of influence from Nicholas Sparks that provides the weepier elements of this couple’s complications.—
Courtney Howard,
Variety,
19 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tearful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tearful. Accessed 4 Sep. 2025.
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