Standard Lemma guide

sorrowful

adj · 3 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.

  • Canada: /ˈsɔɹoʊfəl/
  • Canada: /ˈsɔɹəfəl/
  • General-American: /ˈsɑɹoʊfəl/
  • General-American: /ˈsɑɹəfəl/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈsɒɹəʊfəl/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈsɒɹəfəl/
  • New-Zealand: /ˈsɔɹɐʉfɘl/
  • New-Zealand: /ˈsɔɹɘfɘl/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: S AA1 R OW0 F AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

exhibiting sorrow; dejected; distraught; sad. (of a person)

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

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

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Producing sorrow; causing grief.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • sorrowful accident

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: pitiful, woebegone, atrabiliary, atrabilious, deplorable, depressing, distressing, grievous, heartbreaking, heartrending, miserable, lamentable, lachrymable, mournful, regrettable, rueful, sad, saddening, sorrowful, tragic, unhappy, upsetting, woeful

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective

Meaning 3

experiencing or marked by or expressing sorrow especially that associated with irreparable loss- Proverbs 14:13

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • sorrowful widows
  • a sorrowful tale of death and despair
  • sorrowful news
  • even in laughter the heart is sorrowful

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: joyful

History

Etymology

From Middle English sorweful, from Old English sorhful, sorgful (“full of care; anxious; sorrowful”), from Proto-Germanic *surgafullaz (“full of care; anxious”), equivalent to sorrow + -ful. Cognate with Old High German sorgfol (“careful; anxious”), Norwegian sorgfull (“sorrowful”), Icelandic sorgfullur (“lamentable”).

Across languages

Translations

71 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: مُحْزَن (muḥzan) — full of sorrow
  • Armenian: վշտալի (vštali) — full of sorrow
  • Bulgarian: тъ́жен (tǎ́žen) — full of sorrow
  • Bulgarian: скръ́бен (skrǎ́ben) — full of sorrow
  • Chinese Mandarin: 悲哀 (bēi'āi) — full of sorrow
  • Chinese Mandarin: 悲痛 (bēitòng) — full of sorrow
  • Chinese Mandarin: 悲傷 /悲伤 (bēishāng) — full of sorrow
  • Chinese Mandarin: 哀愁 (āichóu) — full of sorrow
  • Cornish: ahwerek — full of sorrow
  • Cornish: moredhek — full of sorrow
  • Czech: smutný — full of sorrow
  • Czech: truchlící — full of sorrow
  • Dutch: verdrietig — full of sorrow
  • Dutch: droevig — full of sorrow
  • Dutch: treurig — full of sorrow
  • Dutch: bedroefd — full of sorrow
  • Dutch: weemoedig — full of sorrow
  • Finnish: surullinen — full of sorrow
  • French: triste — full of sorrow
  • French: douloureux — full of sorrow
  • German: betrübt — full of sorrow
  • German: kummervoll — full of sorrow
  • German: sorgenvoll — full of sorrow
  • German: traurig — full of sorrow
  • Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐌿𐍂𐍃 (gaurs) — full of sorrow
  • Hindi: दुःखी (duḥkhī) — full of sorrow
  • Hungarian: bús — full of sorrow
  • Ingrian: murhekas — full of sorrow
  • Irish: aiféalach — full of sorrow
  • Japanese: 痛ましい (itamashii) — full of sorrow
  • Japanese: 悲しい (kanashii) — full of sorrow
  • Korean: 슬프다 (seulpeuda) — full of sorrow
  • Macedonian: та́жен (tážen) — full of sorrow
  • Macedonian: скр́бен (skŕben) — full of sorrow
  • Māori: tuarea — full of sorrow
  • Māori: aroaroā — full of sorrow
  • Māori: whakapoururu — full of sorrow
  • Marshallese: būrom̧ōj — full of sorrow
  • Middle English: sorweful — full of sorrow
  • Old English: ċeariġ — full of sorrow
  • Old English: ġeōmor — full of sorrow
  • Iranian Persian: غَمْناک (ġamnâk) — full of sorrow
  • Polish: smutny — full of sorrow
  • Portuguese: magoado — full of sorrow
  • Russian: печа́льный (pečálʹnyj) — full of sorrow
  • Russian: гру́стный (grústnyj) — full of sorrow
  • Russian: ско́рбный (skórbnyj) — full of sorrow
  • Scottish Gaelic: brònach — full of sorrow
  • Spanish: triste — full of sorrow
  • Turkish: acılı — full of sorrow
  • Turkish: müteessir — full of sorrow
  • Turkish: üzüntülü — full of sorrow
  • Ottoman Turkish: سوخته (suhte) — full of sorrow
  • Bulgarian: печа́лен (pečálen) — producing sorrow
  • Finnish: surullinen — producing sorrow
  • Finnish: valitettava — producing sorrow
  • French: attristant — producing sorrow
  • Georgian: საცოდავი (sacodavi) — producing sorrow
  • Hindi: दुखदायी (dukhdāyī) — producing sorrow
  • Hindi: दुखद (dukhad) — producing sorrow
  • Hindi: दुखदायक (dukhdāyak) — producing sorrow
  • Irish: léanmhar — producing sorrow
  • Korean: 안타깝다 (antakkapda) — producing sorrow
  • Macedonian: жа́лен (žálen) — producing sorrow
  • Macedonian: жа́лосен (žálosen) — producing sorrow
  • Marshallese: kabūrom̧ōjm̧ōj — producing sorrow
  • Middle English: hevysum — producing sorrow
  • Middle English: sorweful — producing sorrow
  • Turkish: üzücü — producing sorrow
  • Turkish: hüzünlü — producing sorrow
  • Turkish: üzüntülü — producing sorrow
Real reading context

sorrowful in complete knowledge articles