sorrowful

/'sɔrəful/

Thân thiện

A young woman sits with a sorrowful expression as she looks at an old photograph.

Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Feeling or expressing deep sadness, grief, or regret: Describes a state of being filled with sorrow, often due to loss, misfortune, or disappointment.
   • Causing or characterized by sorrow: Describes something, such as a story, event, or expression, that evokes or is marked by sadness.

Usage and Examples

• Describing a person's emotional state:
  • She had a sorrowful expression after hearing the tragic news.
  • He felt deeply sorrowful for the mistakes of his past.
• Describing a thing or event that conveys sadness:
  • The documentary told the sorrowful history of the war.
  • It was a sorrowful day when the old community center closed.

Advanced Usage and Nuances

• Literary and Formal Tone: "Sorrowful" is more formal and literary than words like "sad." It often implies a profound, lasting, or dignified sadness.
  • The king gave a sorrowful address to his grieving people.
• Expressing Regret or Remorse: Can describe sadness mixed with a sense of personal responsibility or penitence.
  • She offered a sorrowful apology for her actions.

Variants and Related Words

• Sorrowfully (adverb): In a manner that shows sorrow.
  • He nodded sorrowfully, acknowledging the loss.
• Sorrowfulness (noun): The state or quality of being sorrowful.
  • The sorrowfulness in her eyes was unmistakable.

Synonyms

• Mournful: Expressing sorrow, often in a reflective or gentle way.
• Melancholy: A deep, pensive, or long-lasting sadness.
• Woeful: Full of woe or misery; extremely sad.
• Heartbroken: Overwhelmed by grief or disappointment.

Antonyms

• Joyful: Feeling or expressing great happiness.
• Cheerful: Noticeably happy and optimistic.
• Happy: Feeling or showing pleasure or contentment.

Idioms and Phrases

• A sorrowful sight: Something that makes one feel very sad to see.
  • The abandoned puppies were a sorrowful sight.
• To one's sorrowful regret: Used to emphasize that something is a cause of great personal sadness or regret.
  • He realized, to his sorrowful regret, that he had taken his family for granted.

Học thuật

Adjective

1. experiencing or marked by or expressing sorrow especially that associated with irreparable loss
   • sorrowful widows
   • a sorrowful tale of death and despair
   • sorrowful news
   • even in laughter the heart is sorrowful- Proverbs 14:13