Standard Lemma guide

doleful

adj · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈdoʊlfəl/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -əʊlfəl
  • CMU ARPABET: D OW1 L F AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Filled with grief, mournful, bringing feelings of sadness.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • The doleful peal of the bell indicated another funeral was being held.
  • A doleful expression that tugged at my heartstrings.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: dolesome, unhappy, cheerless, comfortless, bleak, dark, morose, depressing, desolate, dire, disconsolate, dismal, doleful, drear, drearisome, dreary, dreich, forlorn, gayless, gray, gloomsome, gloomy, grim, joyless, lack-laughter, lugubrious, melancholy, mirthless, miserable, no joke, saturnine, solemn, somber, sombre, spiritless, sullen, sunless, uncheerful, uncheery, unmerry, wintry, woeful, atrabiliary, atrabilious, blitheless, dispirited, blue, bummed out, chapfallen, chopfallen, crestfallen, cut up, damp, dejected, depressed, despondent, disgruntled, disheartened, down, down in the dumps, down in the mouth, downcast, downhearted, downsome, dull, elegiac, elegious, glum, grief-stricken, grieving, heavy-hearted, heartsore, heartsick, inconsolable, infelicitous, jawfallen, lachrymose, lamentful, low, low-spirited, lumpish, melancholic, moody, mopey, mournful, passionate, plaintive, Plutonian, Plutonic, querulous, ruthful, sad, saddened, shattered, sorrowful, sorrow-ridden, sorrowsome, threnetic, threnetical, triste, tristful, unconsolable, unlively, wistful, woe, woebegone, wretched

Antonyms: none provided

2

adjective satellite

Meaning 2

filled with or evoking sadness

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the child's doleful expression
  • stared with mournful eyes
  • mournful news

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: mournful

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Middle English doleful, doolful, deolful, equivalent to dole + -ful.

Across languages

Translations

16 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bengali: দুঃখজনক (dukkhojonok) — evoking sadness
  • Bengali: বিষাদময় (biśadomoẏ) — evoking sadness
  • Bulgarian: скръбен (skrǎben) — evoking sadness
  • Bulgarian: печален (pečalen) — evoking sadness
  • Friulian: dolorôs — evoking sadness
  • German: traurig — evoking sadness
  • German: trübsinnig — evoking sadness
  • German: trübselig — evoking sadness
  • Irish: acaointeach — evoking sadness
  • Māori: whakapōuri — evoking sadness
  • Russian: ско́рбный (skórbnyj) — evoking sadness
  • Russian: жа́лобный (žálobnyj) — evoking sadness
  • Scottish Gaelic: brònach — evoking sadness
  • Spanish: triste — evoking sadness
  • Spanish: cabizbajo — evoking sadness
  • Spanish: lúgubre — evoking sadness