as in pains
a state of great suffering of body or mind
a tale of misery and woe
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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.
Recent Examples of woes
But whoever goes on to replace Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara will face a major challenge in trying to alleviate California’s homeowner insurance woes.
—
Stephen Hobbs, Sacbee.com, 3 June 2026
Moscow launched the onslaught against threats of heightened aggression, citing a wave of Ukrainian near-daily attacks on Russian oil assets that tanked fuel stocks and exacerbated economic woes.
—Helen Regan, CNN Money, 2 June 2026
But that breakout has been slow in coming for the Sky, who need a consistently dominant version of Cardoso to weather their injury woes.
—Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 2 June 2026
The claim Among the most common assertions about colostrum is its ability to improve a range of gastrointestinal woes.
—Ari Daniel, NPR, 1 June 2026
Athleta's woes aren't the only problem facing Gap right now.
—Alexa Lomonaco, CNBC, 29 May 2026
Both Jacobson and Dillabough see plenty of upside with The Fay, which opened with great fanfare in 2024 but ran into financial woes in 2025 that eventually led to the foreclosure.
—George Avalos, Mercury News, 28 May 2026
But without McManus, and after the Packers traded up from the seventh round to the sixth for Smack, the pressure is on him to reverse the Packers’ post-Mason Crosby kicking woes.
—Matt Schneidman, New York Times, 28 May 2026
The Diamondbacks stayed ahead as Rafael Devers’ season-long offensive woes persisted.
—ABC News, 27 May 2026
Stephen Hobbs, Sacbee.com, 3 June 2026
Moscow launched the onslaught against threats of heightened aggression, citing a wave of Ukrainian near-daily attacks on Russian oil assets that tanked fuel stocks and exacerbated economic woes.
—Helen Regan, CNN Money, 2 June 2026
But that breakout has been slow in coming for the Sky, who need a consistently dominant version of Cardoso to weather their injury woes.
—Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 2 June 2026
The claim Among the most common assertions about colostrum is its ability to improve a range of gastrointestinal woes.
—Ari Daniel, NPR, 1 June 2026
Athleta's woes aren't the only problem facing Gap right now.
—Alexa Lomonaco, CNBC, 29 May 2026
Both Jacobson and Dillabough see plenty of upside with The Fay, which opened with great fanfare in 2024 but ran into financial woes in 2025 that eventually led to the foreclosure.
—George Avalos, Mercury News, 28 May 2026
But without McManus, and after the Packers traded up from the seventh round to the sixth for Smack, the pressure is on him to reverse the Packers’ post-Mason Crosby kicking woes.
—Matt Schneidman, New York Times, 28 May 2026
The Diamondbacks stayed ahead as Rafael Devers’ season-long offensive woes persisted.
—ABC News, 27 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for woes
Noun
-
Acer was also at pains to point out the large performance differential between the RTX 5070 Ti and the vanilla RTX 5070, which sounds similar.—
John Burek,
PC Magazine,
29 May 2026
-
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz compounded the pains of militia attacks, forcing Iraq to declare force-majeure on foreign-run oil operations and curtail production.—
Nabil Salih,
Time,
26 May 2026
Noun
-
Although the novel’s center does not quite hold, O’Farrell’s emotional intelligence — the heart and heat of her characters — braces this sometimes unwieldy chronicle of a nation that has been subject to cumbrous historic agonies.—
Rachel Vorona Cote,
Vulture,
2 June 2026
-
The agonies of the day were only intermittently audible in the music on offer in Witten.—
Alex Ross,
New Yorker,
18 May 2026
Noun
-
The sad thing is that the miseries return, but there is no other Garrincha available.—
Jack Lang,
New York Times,
28 May 2026
-
The parallels between Ines’ dilemma and that of a nation being asked to lick its wounds in silence — in the name of moving on from past miseries — are present but elusive.—
Jessica Kiang,
Variety,
14 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Woes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/woes. Accessed 7 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
