as in pains
a state of great suffering of body or mind
a tale of misery and woe
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Recent Examples of woes
Urban Prep, meanwhile, is embroiled in a legal battle with CPS to keep its two high schools open in Bronzeville and Englewood amid mounting financial woes.
—
Kate Armanini, Chicago Tribune, 16 Apr. 2026
San Diego’s budget woes are now at crisis level, with no reasonable remedy outside of significant reduction of forces or new sources of taxation.
—Harvey Levine, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Apr. 2026
The irony wasn’t lost on him as the reporter interviewing him shared her woes in the middle of interviewing him for a story about Microsoft.
—J. Kyle Foster, USA Today, 15 Apr. 2026
The Kansas City Royals’ bullpen woes continued in Tuesday’s 2-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park.
—Kansas City Star, 15 Apr. 2026
The company has defaulted since 2021 on most of its $300 billion in liabilities, in troubles emblematic of China’s property sector woes that have long dragged on economic growth.
—Reuters, NBC news, 14 Apr. 2026
The looming departure of Swalwell and Gonzales won’t be the end of the House’s disciplinary woes, either.
—Nicholas Wu, semafor.com, 14 Apr. 2026
Lester cited the city’s budget woes and staffing as a perennial challenge for the department.
—Ishani Desai, Sacbee.com, 14 Apr. 2026
Their special-teams woes persisted.
—Andrew Knoll, Oc Register, 8 Apr. 2026
Kate Armanini, Chicago Tribune, 16 Apr. 2026
San Diego’s budget woes are now at crisis level, with no reasonable remedy outside of significant reduction of forces or new sources of taxation.
—Harvey Levine, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Apr. 2026
The irony wasn’t lost on him as the reporter interviewing him shared her woes in the middle of interviewing him for a story about Microsoft.
—J. Kyle Foster, USA Today, 15 Apr. 2026
The Kansas City Royals’ bullpen woes continued in Tuesday’s 2-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park.
—Kansas City Star, 15 Apr. 2026
The company has defaulted since 2021 on most of its $300 billion in liabilities, in troubles emblematic of China’s property sector woes that have long dragged on economic growth.
—Reuters, NBC news, 14 Apr. 2026
The looming departure of Swalwell and Gonzales won’t be the end of the House’s disciplinary woes, either.
—Nicholas Wu, semafor.com, 14 Apr. 2026
Lester cited the city’s budget woes and staffing as a perennial challenge for the department.
—Ishani Desai, Sacbee.com, 14 Apr. 2026
Their special-teams woes persisted.
—Andrew Knoll, Oc Register, 8 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for woes
Noun
-
Grandmother explains how each plant helps humans ease aches and pains, as well as offering good foods like honey from the bees that drink from plants.—
Mary Ann Grossmann,
Twin Cities,
12 Apr. 2026
-
But the problem with utilitarianism is that just as the subjective, first-person experiences of sensory perceptions cannot be compared among individuals, neither can pleasures and pains.—
George G. Szpiro,
Big Think,
9 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
And yet, in the scene on the Hill of Love, Lapid offers no self-questioning, no sense of cinematic exertion or trouble, in the fictional framing of the real agonies of Gaza.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
27 Mar. 2026
-
The celebrated poet and memoirist, delves into the agonies of her decision and describes the emerging women’s liberation movement, of which Moore would soon become a participant.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
20 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Inarguably one of the best teams in the country annually, the Boilermakers had a string of March miseries.—
Dana O’Neil,
CNN Money,
18 Mar. 2026
-
And allergy miseries don’t end after the spring.—
Tom Gavin,
EverydayHealth.com,
11 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Woes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/woes. Accessed 18 Apr. 2026.
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