sorrowful
Heavy with grief
Sorrowful means full of sorrow—deeply sad or mournful.
The word suggests grief that shows: a sorrowful expression, sorrowful eyes.
It can also describe things that cause or express sorrow: sorrowful news, a sorrowful melody.
Sorrowful sounds more literary than simply sad, carrying a weight of genuine grief rather than passing disappointment.
Emotionally low
- melancholySubdued, lasting sadness
- dolefulExpressing deep sorrow
- forlornSad and abandoned
- dejectedLow in spirits
downcast · glum · morose · somber · pensive · wistful · crestfallen · weepy
Deprived by death
- heartbrokenOverwhelmed with grief
- grievingFeeling sorrow after loss
- lamentingExpressing passionate grief
- mourningPeriod following loss
anguished · afflicted · suffering · pained · tormented · distraught · inconsolable · disconsolate
Beyond possibility of success
- despairingCompletely without hope
- anguishedSeverely emotionally distressed
- desolateBleak and abandoned
- bleakDreary and without cheer
dismal · forlorn · wretched · crushed · despondent · inconsolable · devastated · shattered
Sounding sad, sorrowful
- dolorousCausing or showing grief
- lugubriousExaggeratedly mournful in manner
- tearfulProne to weeping
- sighingAudible breath of emotion
sobbing · whimpering · inconsolable · lamenting · keening · wailing · aching · heartrending
Mournful commemorative music
- elegyPoem lamenting the departed
- threnodyMemorial song of grief
- lamentationPassionate expression of grief
- funerealGloomily solemn in manner
somber · requiem · eulogy · veiled · pallbearers · wake · memorial · vigil
Feeling sorrow over actions
- repentantFeeling sorrow for misdeeds
- remorsefulFeeling guilt for wrongdoing
- contriteFeeling guilt over misdeeds
- guilt-riddenTormented by remorse
penitent · rueful · ashamed · apologetic · self-reproach · compunction · contrition · atonement
Feeling others' emotions
- compassionateShowing concern for sufferers
- empatheticFeeling what others feel
- tenderSoft or sore
- commiseratingShowing fellow feeling for misfortune
consoling · comforting · pitying · moved · touched · caring · gentle · kindhearted
sad
Emotionally low
- melancholySubdued, lasting sadness
- dolefulExpressing deep sorrow
- forlornSad and abandoned
dejected · downcast · glum · morose · somber · pensive · wistful · crestfallen · weepy · tearful
bereaved
Deprived by death
- heartbrokenOverwhelmed with grief
- grievingFeeling sorrow after loss
- lamentingExpressing passionate grief
mourning · anguished · afflicted · suffering · pained · tormented · distraught · inconsolable · disconsolate · stricken
hopeless
Beyond possibility of success
- despairingCompletely without hope
- anguishedSeverely emotionally distressed
- desolateBleak and abandoned
bleak · dismal · forlorn · wretched · crushed · despondent · inconsolable · devastated · shattered · broken
plaintive
Sounding sad, sorrowful
- dolorousCausing or showing grief
- lugubriousExaggeratedly mournful in manner
- tearfulProne to weeping
sighing · sobbing · whimpering · inconsolable · lamenting · keening · wailing · aching · heartrending
dirge
Mournful commemorative music
- elegyPoem lamenting the departed
- threnodyMemorial song of grief
- lamentationPassionate expression of grief
funereal · somber · requiem · eulogy · veiled · pallbearers · wake · memorial · vigil · solemn
regretful
Feeling sorrow over actions
- repentantFeeling sorrow for misdeeds
- remorsefulFeeling guilt for wrongdoing
- contriteFeeling guilt over misdeeds
guilt-ridden · penitent · rueful · ashamed · apologetic · self-reproach · compunction · contrition · atonement · penance
sympathetic
Feeling others' emotions
- compassionateShowing concern for sufferers
- empatheticFeeling what others feel
- tenderSoft or sore
commiserating · consoling · comforting · pitying · moved · touched · caring · gentle · kindhearted · understanding
- sadnesssad, unhappy, grief, heartbroken, melancholy
- sombergloomy, bleak, dreary, dismal, melancholy
- dejectiondejected, despondent, discouraged, disheartened, dispirited
- lamentslamentation, wailing, keen, keening, lament
- tragic literatureIliad, Odyssey, Aeneid, Medea, Oedipus