Phrase guide

sob story

noun · 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.

  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A sad story, especially one intended to elicit sympathy.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: derogatory, idiomatic

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a sentimental story (or drama) of personal distress; designed to arouse sympathy

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: sob stuff

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: narrative, narration, story, tale

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

12 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Dutch: smartlap — sad story
  • Dutch: tranentrekker — sad story
  • Finnish: nyyhkytarina — sad story
  • French: histoire à faire pleurer dans les chaumières — sad story
  • French: histoire larmoyante — sad story
  • German: Schnulze — sad story
  • German: Schmachtfetzen — sad story
  • Japanese: お涙頂戴 (onamida chōdai) — sad story
  • Polish: łzawa historyjka — sad story
  • Romanian: poveste lacrimogenă — sad story
  • Swedish: snyfthistoria — sad story
  • Swedish: snyftare — sad story