Standard Lemma guide

ruthful

adj · 4 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.

  • Northern-California: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • UK, US: /ˈɹuːθ.fʊl/

1

adj

Meaning 1

Full of sorrow; sorrowful; woeful; rueful.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: lamentful, mournful, wistful, 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, low, low-spirited, lugubrious, lumpish, melancholic, melancholy, miserable, moody, mopey, morose, passionate, plaintive, Plutonian, Plutonic, querulous, ruthful, sad, saddened, saturnine, shattered, solemn, sombre, sorrowful, sorrow-ridden, sorrowsome, spiritless, sullen, threnetic, threnetical, triste, tristful, uncheerful, uncheery, unconsolable, unhappy, unlively, woe, woebegone, woeful, wretched

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Causing pity; piteous.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: pathetic, pitisome, rueful, compassionate, pathetisad, piteous, pitiable, pitiful, poor, ruthful, snivelly, sorry-ass

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Full of ruth or pity; merciful; compassionate.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: merciable, pitiful, relentful, clement, lenient, mercied, merciful, ruthful, safe

Antonyms: merciless, ruthless

4

adjective satellite

Meaning 4

feeling or expressing pain or sorrow for sins or offenses

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: contrite, remorseful, rueful

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *hrewwaną Proto-West Germanic *hreuwan Proto-Indo-European *-h2 Proto-Indo-European *-éh2 Proto-Germanic *-ō Proto-West Germanic *-u Proto-West Germanic *hreuwu Old English hrēow Middle English rewe Middle English -the Old Norse hrygðinflu. Middle English reuþe Proto-Indo-European *pleh1- Proto-Indo-European *-nós Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h1nós Proto-Germanic *fullaz Proto-Germanic *-fullaz Old English -ful Middle English -ful Middle English reuþful English ruthful From Middle English reuþful, reuthful, reowthful, equivalent to ruth + -ful.

Across languages

Translations

4 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Spanish: afligido — full of sorrow; sorrowful
  • Spanish: triste — full of sorrow; sorrowful
  • Finnish: säälittävä — causing pity; piteous
  • Finnish: säälivä — full of ruth or pity