English Explanatory Dictionary

woeful

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Full of woe; sorrowful; distressed with grief or calamity.
  2. Bringing calamity, distress, or affliction.
  3. Lamentable, deplorable.
  4. Wretched; paltry; poor.

Pronunciation

/ˈwəʊfəl/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-woeful.wav

Word forms

woeful woefuller woefullest woful wofull

Etymology

From Middle English woful, waful, equivalent to woe + -ful. Compare Old English wālīċ (“woeful”), Old English tēonful (“woeful”).

Synonyms

miserable woe atrabiliary atrabilious blitheless dispirited blue bummed out chapfallen cheerless chopfallen crestfallen cut up damp dejected depressed despondent disgruntled disconsolate disheartened dismal doleful dolesome down down in the dumps down in the mouth downcast downhearted downsome dull elegiac elegious forlorn gloomy glum grief-stricken grieving heavy-hearted heartsore heartsick inconsolable infelicitous jawfallen joyless lachrymose lamentful low low-spirited lugubrious lumpish melancholic melancholy moody mopey morose mournful passionate plaintive Plutonian Plutonic

Derived words

woefully woefulness
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